Good footage of the Royal Navy Taskforce, that is a stores ship to you and me, RFA Fort Victoria
Not much news about what happened to them after, with an increasing reluctance to actually detain suspected pirates/potential asylum seekers most of the nations involved with the multi-million pound anti piracy operations in the Indian Ocean seem to be going through the motions, putting their naval forces in the area with little idea what to do next.
Tactics with little strategy, incoherence and confusing activity with results.
Perhaps the illusion of activity is a good substitute for an effective and realistic strategy.
Nice video though.
you wanna stop pirates, you shell their ports.
All that works.
Well, obviously before cannons you had to go in a burn them down.
Every time a british flagged ship is harrassed, you send a frigate into range of a port, point its gun. And keep fireing till your out of shells.
Anything else is displacement
Assumes that we have supplied ship with ammo ! and gun does not jam!!
Rocks and chains are cheap and the seas are deep. That’s my preferred option for pirate disposal anyway.
@TD In the last 12 months the numer of pirated vesels has fallen from a high of 21 to the current figure which I believe to be 7 will get exact figures and repost later.
2 Succesful attacks in last 3 months. A combination of education and vessels with citadels and security reams combined with presence is having an affect.
http://www.informationdissemination.net/2012/01/dutch-vpd-vs-somali-pirates.html
“Perhaps the oldest of the laws of the sea is the prohibition of piracy, as the peril of being set upon by pirates, who are motivated by their own needs rather than by national allegiance, is shared by the vessels and mariners of all nations, and thus represents a crime upon all nations; as such, since the time of the Ancient Romans, pirates have been held to be individuals waging a private warfare, a private campaign of sack and pillage, against not only their victims, but against all nations, and thus, pirates hold the peculiar status of being regarded as “hostis humani generis”, the enemies of mankind. Since piracy anywhere is a peril to every mariner and ship everywhere, it is held to be the universal right and the universal duty of all nations, regardless of whether their ships have been beset by the particular pirate captured, to capture, try by a regularly constituted court-martial or admiralty court (in extreme circumstances, by means of a drumhead court-martial convened by the officers of the capturing ship), and, if found guilty, to execute the pirate via means of hanging from the yard-arm of the capturing ship, an authoritative Custom of the Sea.[1]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostis_humani_generis
“In more recent times, much of the customary law of the sea has been codified. Piracy is the broadest exception to the principle that a ship on the high seas is subject to the protection of, and jurisdiction of, her flag state. Piracy is considered an offense of universal jurisdiction, such that any state may board and seize a ship engaged in piracy, and any state may try a pirate and impose sanctions according to that state’s own law. Piracy is defined in Article 101 of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 1958 Convention on the High Seas also regulates this exercise of jurisdiction”
I agree with Dom, let the RN go old school!
Seriously though, this thing can’t be resolved at sea.
(unless we really *do* go old school… :s )
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/foreign-affairs-committee/news/piracy—report/
“MPs publish report on piracy off the coast of Somalia
Somali piracy is a major problem for the UK and the international community. As a state whose strengths and vulnerabilities are distinctly maritime, the UK should play a leading role in the international response to piracy. The upcoming international conference to be hosted by the UK in February must produce decisive results.
The Government was right to permit private armed guards to defend British flagged shipping against Somali pirates, but it must now provide proper guidance on the legal use of force.
Report: Piracy off the coast of Somalia
Inquiry: Piracy off the coast of Somalia
Background
Somali piracy poses a threat to the UK’s national interests as well as global trading routes and international security. The costs of allowing piracy to proliferate are high. The British shipping industry is worth £10.7 billion to the UK’s GDP, and the costs of security, insurance, re-routing have vastly increased the costs of doing business. Over $300 million has been paid in ransoms to Somali pirates over the past four years, and thousands of seafarers have been held hostage, some of whom have been subject to cruel treatment and even torture.
The report
Self-defence measures, multi-national naval operations and prosecutions have begun to take effect, but have not yet contained the problem. A concerted international effort is now required. This report will contribute to the debate on counter-piracy as the FCO prepares to host a major international conference on Somalia in February 2012.
The committee welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement that private armed guards will be permitted on UK shipping. However, the Government’s guidance on the use of force, particularly lethal force, is very limited and there is little to help a ship’s master make a judgement on where force can be used.
Comment from the Chair
Committee Chair Richard Ottaway MP said:
“It is unacceptable that 2.6 million square miles of the Indian Ocean has become a no-go area for small vessels, and a dangerous one for commercial shipping. There is a clear need to take decisive action.
Naval forces have had some success, but they cannot hope to police such a large area of operation. Ship owners must take responsibility for their own protection, and the Government must let them do so.
The Government was right to permit private armed guards to defend British flagged shipping against Somali pirates, but its guidance on the legal use of force lacks critical detail. The question anyone would ask is that if a private armed guard on board a UK flagged vessel sees an armed skiff approaching at high speed, can the guard open fire? The Government must provide clearer direction on what is permissible and what is not.”
The committee expresses surprise that so little is known about what happens to ransom money, which topped $135 million this year alone. It finds that the Government has been “disappointingly slow to take action on financial flows relating to ransom payments, particularly given the information that could be available from British companies involved”.
Conclusions
The committee concludes that the solution to Somali piracy lies in establishing order on land, ending impunity for piracy crimes and offering alternatives. However, it warns against international claims to deliver a solution in Somalia, and urges the Government to develop its engagement with and support for Somali civil society organisations and local projects.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were hijacked and held hostage by Somali pirates, criticised the FCO’s support for their family as “essentially, tea and sympathy”. The committee recommends that the FCO review its communication and other procedures to support family members of British hostages held abroad.”
I agree with the findings, particularly having attended a briefing by a recent RN CTF 150 earlier this week in which he described the constraints under which he had to operate.
“and any state may try a pirate and impose sanctions according to that state’s own law”
An ASBO for each of you scallywags. And there’s plenty more where that came from too, so don’t let me catch you at it again! Now be off with you, you cheeky rascals.
DEVGRU aka Seal Team six have shown what can be done.
Robust action, not being risk averse, having the capability and balls (politically) to pull it off
it’ll never catch on over here
Why not? It involved a HALO junp some sort sharp SF action and a rotary wing extraction?
I guess if it caught on it would prove you wrong though! You are meant to be TD, name one aspect of that op we could not replicate?
We are going to get involved in Somalia some point soon arent we?
Several real interests – piracy, famine, Somalian extremists in the UK, ally Kenya etc etc.
And as Afghanistan winds down the military chaps are going to need somewhere to play to justify their continuing existence.
This time we dont get stuck there, we do it properly. Let the clans/government/etc try and work something out and just pop in, take sides, and smash up whoever is blocking progress/aid.
Ideal for the Navy and Marines to show off – sit off shore and pop in and out on helos and hovercraft. Might need to take some AAC Apaches, but a passive environment so can leave the RAF at home.
If they are protecting aid deliveries can we bill the DFiD budget?
@ TD, sorry for the thread barge, but have you seen this? Northolt may be under consideration for sale. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/25/raf-northolt-may-be-sold
Personally, I always found Northolt to be very convenient*, but that’s not the whole story. I’m sure a commercial hub could work with RAF taxis using the odd slot.
* I once got the UN Force Commander in Yugoslavia (Lt Gen Bernard Janvier, whose MA I was) into Northolt and then a blue light escort to Heathrow for a flight to NY to address the UNSC, but only because Pauline Neville-Jones at the FO pulled strings. He was mucho impressed at the UK’s commitment to the UN cause, but may have been less so if he had known that my then girlfriend lived in Hillingdon, and I planned a very dirty weekend while he did the politics in New York. We could have gone via Paris but that was not an option I offered him.
The politics/balls mainly
APATS, it’s not advisable to HALO jump onto a moving ship, the LZ is way too small for a precision landing, and if you missed, tangled up in your own chute in the water is one of the highest causes of death in prachuting. What’s wrong with the good old simple way of boarding with another ship or doing a heli-rappel?
As for shelling the ports, emotionally, I’m all for it, but intellectually, it can’t or shouldn’t be done. Somalia, for all it’s faults, is a sovereign nation, shelling it is like a declaration of war, and even more likely to turn others against you. Not to mention the port has more than pirates living there, there is a chance normal shopkeepers, maintainance workers, civillans etc will get killed.
So emotionally, yes shell the bastards. Intellectually, shit, need to hold back….
Stress: The feeling when your mind overrides your body’s reaction to strangle some bastard who desperately deserves it.
I can’t see why a change in British law to the effect of “if being boarded involuntarily in international waters, the Captain may authorise lethal force” would not sort out most Somali pirates for British flagged ships. A couple, maybe 4 twin Brownings spread around a ship would seem to be enough. For a while, the ships would need to employ some ex-Booties on defence duty. Maybe the guns would need to be dumped overboard before entering some territorial waters but Brownings are cheap in comparison with ship and cargo costs.
I think the message would get through soon enough, plus require the pirates to put some effort into flag recognition on the high seas.
Some PMC companies do hire out. I’m not of the idea we should arm cargo ships though, too much chance of guns falling into the wrong hands.
As for dumping guns, you do realise that ships call in at more than one port? So you dump your guns at the 1st port, what about the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc?
Boss and APATS (been enjoying the latter’s commentary lately, as I lurk for moments at high speed),
Testicular fortitude does seem to be at the heart of it. On the one hand Britain (in particular *cough* the RN — what can I say it goes with the alias) helped pioneer that approach to piracy (once it no longer worked as well for the national balance sheet to *be* the pirates) but there’s also a strong tradition of doing as little as possible to create unintended consequences, especially where relatively free money like playing the shipping insurance markets is involved.
Absolutely could have done it. Between the Secret Bootie Squirrels and even the RAF’s relatively limited special operations resources, job done. Put a Fort (ii)-class within operational range (the least “auxiliary” auxiliaries in the world, right down to the discreet unloaded tubes for Sea Wolf) and you’re there. Frankly, if they hitched a ride on an American MC-130 and had one of their Absalons within helo range (Absalon, there’s a word that’ll get old Jed in here like a midnight cup of coffee) the Danes could’ve pulled it off themselves. This is no discredit to the Yanks, but just a sign that this kind of “capability plus” (OGH’s catchphrase) is well in reach.
Observer,
I don’t know that I’d go so far as to call Somalia a sovereign state — it’s a collection of coastal not-quite-states based around either clan kinship or useful geography that are trying to be sovereign and cutting each other’s throats in the effort — but your point still stands despite the oblique angle. Here again the Yanks may be on to something, and something that might apply in that new article on Nigeria in time as well, namely attacking the problems at sea from the landward side. First it was a wink and a nudge to Ethiopia but when that failed to get enough traction the backing for Kenya, Tanzania, et al. to go in via African Union mandate seems both more concerted and more considered. In the meanwhile this approach (both the RFA/RN at sea in the vid and the American raid, much like some of the earlier French ones in recent years) is about the right level. If somebody can find a schwerpunkt when it’s at home on the Somali coast, well and good, but some kind of “enduring ops” ***-bashing would be counterproductive. And should be discouraged: sea control to Major Blimp?
James,
Just to plug my American relatives and in-laws (half the in-laws anyway, the other half are Glaswegian) one last time, the USN has taken the rather interesting step of crowd-sourcing ideas for anti-piracy tactics. Find yourself stuck in a “war amongst the people” even when “the people” are at sea in skiffs waving shooty things about? Use your own “the people” to help get it sorted. Tragically such a democratic and flexible approach stands not a chance in Whitehall. But maybe a shipping company might be smart enough to set up a MMORPG as a lab setting.
observer
thats sort of the point.
The pirates are tolerated because they pay taxes to the port king.
Its a net gain for the port king.
A t23 can change that in a few minutes.
If we shell ports in response to shipping attacks, the ports will boot out pirates who attack our shipping.
No port no resupply no piracy.
Historicaly, its how piracy ends.
It can be paused by buying insurance from port king as well, but for us, its just easier to beat him into submission.