War Is Boring

Piracy War’s Unusual Friends, Tragic Victims

04.05.09

Categorie: Africa, David Axe, Naval, Piracy |

by DAVID AXE

The escalating piracy war off the Somali coast is making friends of historic rivals. South Korea is patrolling the Indian Ocean alongside Japan and China. And today a South Korean warship rescued a North Korean freighter from pirates.

More than a dozen nations have deployed forces to the region. Fighting piracy has meant forging new command relationships, new legal regimes and new co-operative tactics. It’s U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen’s “1,000-ship navy” concept, come to life.

But the same complexity that requires a global response also means innocents get caught in the crossfire. More than dozen Thai fishermen were killed last year when an Indian warship mistakenly opened fire on their vessel. Now the French press reports that a French pirate hostage was accidentally killed last month when commandos stormed his yacht to free him and four others.

(Photo: via Brisbane Times)

No related posts.

4 Responses to “Piracy War’s Unusual Friends, Tragic Victims”

d.b says:

May 4, 2009 at 1:36 pm

Indian Navy fired after being fired upon, and will do the same if the same situation presents itself.
War Is Boring says:

May 6, 2009 at 2:52 pm

[...] (Photo: French navy) Related: Piracy War’s Unusual Friends, Tragic Victims NATO General: Piracy Legal Challenge “Complex” Google, Radio Mix for Pirate Early Warning Pirates Smarter, More Dangerous, More Numerous South Park Goes Pirating Coast Guard’s Legal War on Pirates Mental Floss: Ten Things You Didn’t Know about Pirates Somali Pirates versus the Tuna Trade Esquire.com: Five Pirated Crews who Didn’t Fare as Well as the Americans Pirates Seize Ship with U.S. Crew Wired.co.uk: Beating Somali Pirates at Their Own Game Piracy War Escalates: Korean Seafarer Shot in Attack Video: How the Littoral Combat Ship Will Fight Pirates Offiziere.ch: Pirate Attacks Decline, but for How Long? Proceedings: Defeating Somali Pirates on Land Video: Kennedy Mwale’s Big (Pirate) Adventure Who Watches the (Pirate) Watchers? U.S. Navy Uses “Smart Power” to Fight Pirates Exclusive Video: MV Faina Released by Pirates Coast Guard: Prosecuting Pirates an “Excruciating Process” Skewz: On the Trail of Pirates C-SPAN: Somali Piracy Overview Kenyan navy sits out pirate fight Coasties and Marines join Navy pirate-fighters Inside the Navy’s prison ship Video: pirates hijack help World mobilizes to fight pirates Why robots can’t fight pirates Navy’s new “soft” pirate-fighters Pirate-fighting ship’s big problems Japan, South Korea team up to fight pirates Establishing a Somali coast guard? Coast Guard’s tips for beating pirates U.S. Navy Coordinates Counter-Piracy Fleets Pirates Not Just the Stuff of Legends How Pirates Get Paid Axe vs. Pirates: Convoy! Axe vs. Pirates: “I Fear No One but God.” Chinese Seafarers Kick Pirate Ass Kenyan Navy Fires Rhetorical Broadside against Pirates Axe vs. Pirates: Everyday Kenyans Suffering Effects of Somali Piracy Axe vs. Pirates: The Kenya Connection Piracy Threatens Somalia Aid Effort Axe vs. Pirates: The Panic Button Axe vs. Pirates: Scared onto Land by Pirate Close Call Somali Piracy Puts Squeeze on Kenyans Mombasa Looks Like This E.U. Deploying Vessel against Pirates Axe vs. Pirates: Welcome to Mombasa No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <strike> [...]
War Is Boring says:

May 21, 2009 at 3:20 am

[...] Related: Pirates Have Stingers? Probably Not … NATO Frigate’s Pirate Catch-and-Release Video: Navy, Coast Guard Grab Pirates NATO Back in the Pirate-Fighting Business Somali Insurgent’s Tips for Fighting Pirates Coast Guard Issues Counter-Piracy Rules A Negotiated End to Somali Piracy? Navy Prison Ship Dodges Pirate Revenge World Politics Review: Amateurish Foot Soldiers Belie Sophisticated Piracy Networks Piracy War’s Unusual Friends, Tragic Victims No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <strike> [...]
War Is Boring says:

September 4, 2009 at 12:20 am

[...] Three times in the past two years, French commandos have had to rescue French pleasure cruisers whose yachts were hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The operations sure cost millions of dollars, and also claimed the lives of several pirates and one Frenchman. Now the French foreign ministry is proposing a law that will require future adventurers to repay part of the cost of their rescues, in the event they run into trouble. Bloomberg calls it a “stupidity tax.” [...]