EU Naval Force -- Somalian Territorial waters

digme

Somali pirates have seized three Thai fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean in what the EU Naval Force said was the furthest off-shore attack to date.

Just read this on the bbc website.

They go on to say;
He said that the attack took place far outside the area in which the EU force operated, about 1,200 nautical miles (2,222km) from the Somali coast.
The pirates were said to be taking the fishing boats back to Somalia.
I'm not sure what the eu naval farce is but is Ireland involved in this ****e too?


Is it not time they start reporting about these so called ships coming into somali waters and destroying their liveyhoods?Surely they're not all "pirates",most of them are just fishermen who are fed up of huge factory ships wiping out their only source of income.


Maybe those so called pirates who hijacked the 3 thai fishing boats and were taking them back to somalia, were taking back what was theirs and them some?

bonkey

digme wrote: »

infact most of them are just fishermen who are fed up of huge factory ships wiping out their only source of income.

You say this is "in fact". Where is this fact coming from?

Cavehill Red

No, they were pirates.
I remain unclear as to how the transit of oil and freight tankers (the majority of pirate victims in the area) well offshore from fishing waters could in any way affect local fishermen.
And I don't see how, even if there was some sort of detriment to them from foreign transit, that kidnapping boats and people and holding them to multimillion ransoms is some sort of karmic balance.
The reality is that Somalia is a lawless mess, partially run by warlords and fundamentalist Islamic nutters, and that in such circumstances, people will do whatever they can get away with that makes them the most easy cash.
In Somalia's case (specifically along the Eyl coast) that means toting AKs at merchant seamen, kidnapping them, and stealing what they were shipping.
I hope the EU takes a much firmer line with these pirates in future. Sinking their vessels in open water would be a great start. Once two or three met Davy Jones, the remainder might consider returning to fishing.

digme

Cavehill Red;
I'm not talking about tankers and other vessels,i'm talking about fishing boats.Isn't the west already after looting their whole continent?Their fish stocks are getting wiped out,not all of them are pirates hijacking tankers,in my opinion most are normal Joe soaps,but I can't back that up as I don't own a news corp,or have anyone on the ground reporting for me.

robtri

Has anybody seen the Sky documentary by, god forbid the i cant rememebr his name..... the blad , wannbe hard man, from east enders....

had some interesting insights as to why they where doing it...

Cavehill Red

digme wrote: »

Cavehill Red;
I'm not talking about tankers and other vessels,i'm talking about fishing boats.Isn't the west already after looting their whole continent?Their fish stocks are getting wiped out,not all of them are pirates hijacking tankers,in my opinion most are normal Joe soaps,but I can't back that up as I don't own a news corp,or have anyone on the ground reporting for me.

You're talking about fishing boats in the Indian Ocean, 1,200 miles from Somali waters.
I made the point that it is freight and oil vessels which make up the bulk of kidnap targets, not fishing vessels.
No, 'the West' (whoever that is) isn't 'after looting their whole continent.' I suggest you could start by reading Paul Nugent's wonderful 'Africa since Independence' or the even better 'The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence' by Martin Meredith for an education on the continent.
Your opinion of Somali pirates as 'Joe Soaps' is about as relevant as my opinion about Martians, unless of course you have a genuine kidnap experience to relate.

bonkey

digme wrote: »

Cavehill Red;
I'm not talking about tankers and other vessels,i'm talking about fishing boats.Isn't the west already after looting their whole continent?Their fish stocks are getting wiped out,

Even if we accepted that as the case, this particular instance is dealing with Thai fishing boats, in waters far outside Somalian waters.

Even taking the most generous definition (the Continental Shelf), Somalian waters could extend an absolute maximum of 350 nautical miles from the coast. Their exclusive economic waters only 200 nautical miles. This attack was some 1200 miles from the coast.

I'm not sure, therefore, that there is any notion of conspiracy here. Ships were hijacked on the open sea, far outside any territory which could be conceivable be linked to Somalia. The victims were Thai, which rules out the suggestion that it is somehow a strike against the Evil And Exploitative West.

not all of them are pirates hijacking tankers,in my opinion most are normal Joe soaps,

Hijacking a ship in open, international waters is, by definition, an act of piracy. It matters not one whit that the target was a fishing vessel and not a tanker. So they may not be pirates hijacking tankers...but they're still pirates.

Kepti

robtri wrote: »

Has anybody seen the Sky documentary by, god forbid the i cant rememebr his name..... the blad , wannbe hard man, from east enders....

had some interesting insights as to why they where doing it...

Ross Kemp.

robtri

Kepti wrote: »

Ross Kemp.

thats him........
thanks