Video: Royal Marines capture and sink pirate vessel

[Swoop]

Story:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/5440087/Pictured-Royal-Navy-defeats-pirates-armed-with-grenades.html

Video:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/5444622/Video-Royal-Navy-intercepts-pirates-with-grenades-and-machine-guns.html


Scratch one.

[uptown]

Wtg Royal Navy! Those pirates are a sorry lookin' lot, aren't they 

[Die Hard]

While there can be little doubt that these Somalis were not out fishing, what the RN have done here is itself an act of piracy; they've boarded a foreign vessel and robbed the occupants of their weapons and sunk one of their boats. It sets a dangerous precedent if navy ships can just board and "confiscate" weapons in international waters without any actual proof that they were pirates or had done anything illegal.

[Oleg]

Im confused 
RN arrested pirates, took their weapon, sunk boat, just to give them bigger boat and leave free later? 
Something ****ing wrong here 

[thrila]

That's some nice footage of the 30mm and 4.5" gun, i'm positive the matelows enjoyed that.

Oleg, the pirates still have the big boat, which is a lesser effective pirate vessel than a small fast boat.  Basically the RN has let them go because we don't want them to claim asylum in the UK.    

edit:  In my opinion sending a pirate back to somalia is a far greater punishment than spending 10 years in a UK prison.   Over here a prisoner can play on a ps3 or xbox all day long in their cell- prison is hell.

[Oleg]

Uh, thanks. Article isnt very clear,not for me, at least.

[eddiek]

While there can be little doubt that these Somalis were not out fishing, what the RN have done here is itself an act of piracy; they've boarded a foreign vessel and robbed the occupants of their weapons and sunk one of their boats. It sets a dangerous precedent if navy ships can just board and "confiscate" weapons in international waters without any actual proof that they were pirates or had done anything illegal.

It sets a "dangerous precedent" for the pirates.  If only other nations' navies would follow suit and close that loophole the pirates have been using to escape, it might give them pause as to the seriousness of what they are doing out there trying to "pirate" innocent commercial shipping vessels.
I'd rather the incident not been captured on film and post on the Net, cause now you know somewhere the "pirates" are changing tactics and sometime in the future there will be an incident with loss of life from a firefight (no great loss if all the pirates get killed IMHO, just hate to see any serviceman lose his life to those scum) and the media will be all over it, asking the same thing you did.  Better to just capture the thugs (that's all they are honestly), sink their vessel, then apply old time naval justice and hang em high.  
As far as the pirate "family", all they would ever need to know is their relative was lost at sea.  Lose enough of them and you will see fewer and fewer hijackings.  
What would your excuse be for having RPG's and other military type weapons if you were just out fishing?  Defend yourself from the fish?
Now that the media has access to it, only God knows what kind of stories will come out about those poor hapless, defenseless fishermen, only out there trying to support their families..............

[Masherbrum]

While there can be little doubt that these Somalis were not out fishing, what the RN have done here is itself an act of piracy; they've boarded a foreign vessel and robbed the occupants of their weapons and sunk one of their boats. It sets a dangerous precedent if navy ships can just board and "confiscate" weapons in international waters without any actual proof that they were pirates or had done anything illegal.

If they weren't Pirates, the POS boat they had, might still be floating.

I have NO sympathy for these Pirates.   WTG RN!   Awesome target practice with that 30mm.

[trax1]

While there can be little doubt that these Somalis were not out fishing, what the RN have done here is itself an act of piracy; they've boarded a foreign vessel and robbed the occupants of their weapons and sunk one of their boats. It sets a dangerous precedent if navy ships can just board and "confiscate" weapons in international waters without any actual proof that they were pirates or had done anything illegal.

Yeah your right, they should wait until after they've attacked a boat before they do something.

[Die Hard]

If they weren't Pirates, the POS boat they had, might still be floating.

We don't know for sure that they were pirates, and that's the point. For instance they could simply be Somali militiamen out paroling; unlikely, but not beyond the realm of possibility. Should the RN (and other navies) really have the power to board foreign vessels, "confiscate" any weapons they find, and sink some or all of them just on the suspicion of piracy? Is that really the power we want to give, say the Iranian navy? Or the Chinese navy?

Here's the problem: If the RN didn't have enough evidence to actually arrest them (and the article said they didn't) how can they be justified in confiscating and destroying their property? If the cops can't prove you were speeding, should they be allowed to just confiscate any legal weapons you have and set fire to your car? Is it OK as long as they give you cab money to get home?

I don't give a flying twittle about the Somali pirates; I hope they capsized and drowned on the way home. However I do care a great deal about the abuse of power by, and unaccountability of armed government agencies, in this case the Royal Navy.

[Masherbrum]

We don't know for sure that they were pirates, and that's the point. For instance they could simply be Somali militiamen out paroling; unlikely, but not beyond the realm of possibility. Should the RN (and other navies) really have the power to board foreign vessels, "confiscate" any weapons they find, and sink some or all of them just on the suspicion of piracy? Is that really the power we want to give, say the Iranian navy? Or the Chinese navy?

Here's the problem: If the RN didn't have enough evidence to actually arrest them (and the article said they didn't) how can they be justified in confiscating and destroying their property? If the cops can't prove you were speeding, should they be allowed to just confiscate any legal weapons you have and set fire to your car? Is it OK as long as they give you cab money to get home?

I don't give a flying twittle about the Somali pirates; I hope they capsized and drowned on the way home. However I do care a great deal about the abuse of power by, and unaccountability of armed government agencies, in this case the Royal Navy.

So your "average Somali" goes around the Indian Ocean with RPG's?   Stop being the BBS Devil's Advocate, you're sounding like Lasersailor right now and have for a while.   

[Die Hard]

I don't think I've ever seen a group of "average Somalis" without some of them being armed. The result of 50 years of civil war and anarchy. I bet most if not all Somali fishing boats have weapons on board.

[Masherbrum]

I don't think I've ever seen a group of "average Somalis" without some of them being armed. The result of 50 years of civil war and anarchy. I bet most if not all Somali fishing boats have weapons on board.

A run-of-the-mill AK-47 is extremely different than an RPG-7.     Have you been to Somalia?   You know the above as FACT?   

[trax1]

I bet most if not all Somali fishing boats have weapons on board.

That wasn't a fishing vessel, there was like 10 of them in a small boat, that had an even smaller fast boat next to it, armed to the teeth with RPG's & automatic weapons, thats your standard pirate boat, like I said earlier, what should they do, wait until they attack a boat before they take any action? 

With all the pirates that have been out in the waters off Somalia lately what else would a group of men be doing out there looking exactly like they themselves are pirates.  There's an old saying, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

[Die Hard]

That wasn't a fishing vessel, there was like 10 of them in a small boat, that had an even smaller fast boat next to it, armed to the teeth with RPG's & automatic weapons, thats your standard pirate boat, like I said earlier, what should they do, wait until they attack a boat before they take any action?

The obvious answer is yes. How hard can it be for a modern navy to keep an eye on suspected pirate vessels and take action when they make a move?

With all the pirates that have been out in the waters off Somalia lately what else would a group of men be doing out there looking exactly like they themselves are pirates.  There's an old saying, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

Do you wish U.S. Law was practiced like that? If you look like a criminal you are a criminal?