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PIRATES HAVE ATTACKS an Italian cargo ship carrying 23 crew members in waters off Somalia, according to state TV in Italy.
The ship’s owner, D’Alesio Group, said five armed men conducted the attack Monday morning. But to protect the crew, the company said it would not provide any other details.
Therefore, it was not known if the pirates had boarded the ship or taken hostages.
Pirates flourish off largely lawless Somalia by attacking passing ships, taking hostages and demanding ransoms to free them and the vessels.
D’Alesio’s statement said the attack on its Montecristo ship occurred 1,000km off Somalia as the crew – seven Italians, six Ukranians and 10 Indians – was hauling scrap iron to Vietnam on a journey that began on September 20 in Liverpool.
Time to arm these ships and let them shoot away when attacked
Dont see why these companies can’t hire one the many private security contractors to escort their vessels through Somalia waters…
The starvation, torture and murder of these hostages is what, in my mind, changes what could be considered as an act of desperate self preservation, into an act of callous, greedy and self serving criminal act.
Called ‘pirates’ by media of the west, in reality they are failed fisherman who have nothing left to lose in this world.
So that makes it right?
No, it makes it understandable and pitiable.
AFAIK they don’t harm anyone. They just want money. There are indeed no fish in their waters due to first world countries dumping their crap off the Somali coast. I suppose THAT”S fine. Desperate times, desperate measures and all that.
Can these ships not avoid the area or get protection? I mean, they know the hazards.
Considering the number of Somali people that have died and are starving due to European and other countries ships dumping toxic waste and stealing all their fish I say fair play to them.
At least they give these companies the option of saving their crew members lives. The poor Somali people were not given that option.
While it is unfortunate for the crew members and their families I think the blame here lies with the greed of western corporations and not the pirates themselves.
Are you joking?? We are talking about ruthless killers who have no regard for anything apart from money… They are criminals and terrorists the deserve no rights what so ever.. I suppose the terrorists who flew the planes into the world trade centre had their reasons too did they??? some people just post any old rubbish to go against the grain… If my family were crew on some of those ships I would be hoping a navy seal team would shoot everyone of those Somali pirates no questions asked.
Informed comment Lauren, at least somebody here is aware of the situation in Somalia.
There’s a lot more than meets the eye going on in the waters there folks, check out the facts.
Would you invite them into your home??
Well said Lauren.
Until you put yourself in the shoes of a Somalian, don’t judge them for their actions. Piracy is inconceivable to us, as we are well off westerners, who don’t need to engage in criminality to put bread on the table. Anyone from Ireland who robs or deals drugs does so by choice, not out of desperation.
Somalia hasn’t had a government since the early nineties. Any time they try to erect an electricity poll there, it gets chopped down for use as firewood. The last time a single group got close enough to controlling the whole country, it got shot down (literally and metaphorically) by the Ethiopians supported by the Americans (the Islamic Courts Union was a little bit too radical for their taste).
Somalians can no longer feed themselves through fishing, as the sea is horribly polluted. Last I checked, there was a massive famine going on there as well. It’s so easy for us to pass judgement on these “pirates”, and throw them in front of an international court, but in reality sending westerns navies to patrol the area will do no good in the long term. To fix the problem for good, we need to tackle the route cause which is widespread poverty.
if people can’t feed themselves legally, they’ll do so illegally. Fact.
i lost my job thanks to the recession so do i have the right to rob banks seeing as theyre the ones ultimately responsible?
The pirates are part of gang cartels and have nothing to do with normal civilians, they are the scum of the earth terrorising communities and taking hostages to torture or kill. They have no sad story and are just greedy undignified gangsters preying off the desperation of others to exist.
@Waffler I’m pretty sure you are far from starving and did not have a tsunami of toxic water wash in on your house. It is completely ridiculous to compare your job loss with what has happened over there.
@John – “We are talking about ruthless killers who have no regard for anything apart from money” – This can relate exactly to those companies that took the cheaper option and disposed of their waste in the Somali seas. What would you do if your family and whole community was being destroyed by toxic water just because a pharmaceutical wanted to save some money by not disposing of their waste correctly?
@Paul – I would not be a threat to these people therefore I would have nothing to fear, to answer your question yes, under normal circumstances I probably would invite them into my home.
@John it’s quite obvious you have been brainwashed by the media. With regards the terrorists and 9/11 I’m pretty sure they did have their reasons yes. For years the US has been invading countries and killing innocent civilians. I’m sure you probably are not well informed on any of the details however as your only source of information is that which is plonked in front of you.
There is a big bad world out there, and it goes far beyond the headlines that you read in the papers. Wise up.
@ Lauren. Lets be clear, there is no Robin hood story going on here, pirates may take from the rich but only feed the money to criminal cartels with nothing going back to the community. The fishermen don’t just put down their nets and pick up a k47 and rocket launcher from local store, they are recruited by criminal gangs who only want to terrorise Somali civilians into their doctrine. They kidnap and torture employees of shipping companies killing some, scaring survivors mentally. The pirates have no dignity and are not the platform to launch the plight of normal Somali people.
@Frank I am not saying what they are doing is right, however what has lead to this behavior was ultimately brought on by western governments and corporations.
Of course greed and criminals are going to take over in situations like this, that was inevitable when there is lawlessness and poverty. I am certain that if a similar experiment was conducted on rats that the exact same thing would happen. Throw a bunch of rats into a controlled environment, infect them with disease and hunger and then give them a way out. They will take that way out as survival is the most basic instinct of mankind. This is comparable to what is going on in Somalia.
My point here is that these people are not capable of knowing any better and are doing exactly what any group of people would do under the same circumstances.
Fair play to you Lauren for having the heart to speak up on the injustices of this world. You clearly do have a balanced perspective on all this. I feel sorry for those who form their views based on what they see on sky news etc. A very polarized (and far from correct) perspective is inevitable within the minds of those. It’s nothing short of pure propaganda! I know very well that there are many others who see through all this, yet are too afraid to speak out for fear of alienation. So I commend you!
What’s wrong with Mikes comment?
Avoiding the area means going around south africa thus making journeys much longer and expensive….these are ruthless people and their actions cannot be blamed on western governments…i agree on the first few comments, treat them as they wish to treat others…
So Lauren if this was one of your family members you would understand why they have been taken against there will treated badly and some of these people are held for up to 2 years how do there family’s feel and how do u recover from this ordeal I think ur the one miss informed
@Lauren, though it appears from your comments that you think you are taking some kind of moral high ground ..I think you seem to be contradicting yourself there first post was " fair play to them" for doing what they do… Then you replied to @frank " I’m not saying what they are doing is right"??? I think maybe you are a bit confused , so which is it.. Are they right or wrong for taking innocent hostages (not the CEOs of the greedy multinationals but totally innocent people who have nothing to do with the plight of their country) do you condone torture, kidnapping and ransom demands made by "unemployed fishermen"
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