Jan 25, 2009: Pirates

[xoxoxoBruce]

Anybody not in a coma has heard about the Somali Pirates hijacking ships and holding them for ransom.
We've heard more about the biggies, like the shipment of Russian tanks and the supertanker of oil, but they have been preying on a lot of smaller ships for some time.

On Dec. 19th 2008 they tried to grab the M/V Zen Hua 4 but the crew fought back.

The 30 Chinese crew of M/V Zhenhua 4 -- off the Somali Coast -- locked themselves in their accommodation area - which includes their sleeping rooms, mess rooms and recreation area - to prevent the bandits from entering the ship itself. The ship's captain, Peng Weiyuan, said the crew used 'water cannon, self-made incendiary bombs, beer bottles and other missiles to fight the pirates' during the five-hour stand-off. 'Thirty minutes later, the pirates gestured to us for a ceasefire then the helicopters from the joint fleet came to our help.
The helicopters launched from a Malaysian warship after responding to the distress call sent to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

After blasting the pirates with gunfire, the pirates clambered back into their speedboats and made off back to their coastal hideout.

These are stories we normally would expect from our great-great grandparents. The crew of M/V Zen Hua 4 is very lucky.

One for the goodguys!
A lot more pictures at CargoLaw.