Southeast Asia struggles to protect vulnerable waterway from terrorist threats from MSNBC, with thanks to Skeet Street.
When 35 pirates carrying machine guns and rocket launchers boarded a tanker laden with methane in the Malacca Strait in March, it sent a shudder through the crew, and a ripple of fear from Tokyo to Washington.The incident marked a resurgence in attacks along one of the world’s most vulnerable and valuable shipping lanes, where things had been relatively quiet following last year's tsunami. It also served as a reminder of the risks to world trade, and of the potential for terrorism in the region.
The attack on the tanker turned out to be routine highway robbery in the strait, whose waters are shared by Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
But in the nightmare scenario, terrorists using the methods of modern-day pirates seize a gas tanker and use it as floating bomb, which experts say could explode with the force of a small nuclear weapon. The damage from such an attack could go well beyond the immediate bloodshed and environmental damage, hobbling U.S. trade with Asia and cutting off essential energy supplies shipped through the narrow channel to China, South Korea and Japan...
Don't give them ideas!
I cannot undertand why the worlds Navies have not put armed troops aboard high value ships passing thru this area; and then blown the bastards out of the water when they try a stunt like this.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Pirates were hung immediately upon capture. Why waste good manilla rope when a few bullets will do nicely?
I've been through the Moulaccas Straights many times, and always felt quite secure.
On aircraft carriers.
These pirates are reminiscent of the Muslim pirates who were, in fact, officially sanctioned by the assorted kings and beylerbeys of North Africa, for they would first "register" their intended prey before leaving port, with the full consent of the local Muslim authorities (just as so many terrorist groups operate against Infidels with the consent of the local Muslim authorities who pretend to be unaware), and who for centuries left North Africa to prey on Christian coastlines, and on Christian shipping. About a million people in Western Europe (other millions, Slavs, Georgians, and Circassians, were taken in theEast) were seized, while the trade in black slaves by Arab slavers began earlier, and ended (or pretended to end) later, than the Atlantic slave trade. Tens of millions of black Africans were captured by Arab slavers, who would castrate the young boys on the spot, and 10% survived to be brought, by slave coffle or Arab Dhow, to the slave-markets of the Muslim world.
See Giles Milton, "White Gold," about Thomas Pellow, a Cornishman kidnapped circa 1730, and brought as a slave to Morocco, who finally returned to Christendom, and managed to write down the story of what he had endured). See Robert C. Davis's "White Slaves, Muslim Masters." See the book Cervantes's captivity in Algiers. See Jan Hogedorn, "The Hideous Trade" about the seizing and kidnapping of young African boys by the Arab slavers. See Willis on the Islamic slave trade. See Patricia Crone, "Slaves on Horseback." See the histories of the Ottoman Empire, with its forced levy (the devshirme) on Christians (and Jews for a while) in the Ottoman domains of Christian Europe. See a thousand books and articles on Slavery in Islam, which remains part of Islam, and can never be ended, because the Qur'an cannot be changed, the Hadith cannot be changed, the slave-owning (but he was "nice" to his slaves) Muhammad and his slave-owning Companions cannot have the details of their lives changed to suit the Infidels, not even those at The New Duranty Times or The Bandar Beacon.
Finally, find if you can Snouck Hurgronje's book "The Achenese" which describes the piracy of the Achenese on non-Muslim shipping. Just as Western Europe suffered for centuries, Muslim raiders from Aceh (the same Aceh recently lavished with Infidel aid, pocketed without gratitude by the Muslims there) even went up to raid whole villages on the Thai coast, destroying villages, killing or kidnapping Thais.
Slavery, piracy, the jizyah -- that is how, before the disguised jizyah of Infidel foreign aid, and the kidnapping and threats that lead to Western payouts (for what is the $9 billion now promised, on top of the previous bilions that somehow disappeared when Arafat died, to the "Palestinian" Arabs, if not a fearful "jizyah" -- and what is the continuing aid to Egypt, if not a "jizyah" that the Americans do not dare to end, for fear of ending, somehow, their "protected status" in the eyes of the Egyptian regime?) -- that's the economy of Islam.
Oh, and one more think. The revenues from oil and gas. And it is those revenues that must be systematically diminished by the Infidels of this world, through higher taxes on gasoline and on oil, through the relentless search for other sources of oil and gas, through greater use of coal, through the building of nuclear reactors (xue xi-- "learn from" in Chinese -- France), the subsidizing of wind power (xue xi-- learn from -- Denmark and Brittany), and solar energy (xue xi-- learn from -- Israel), and for god's sake figure out ways to conserve energy, to end our slavish submission to the rule of King Commute, and Emperor Car.
Hugh - Bravo! Thanks you for the additional resource material on Arab slavery and the additional information about the jizya. How infuriating to know that we continue to pay through the nose to these monsters.
Hugh, thanks for your post.
The Malacca Strait area has been the principal hotbed of modern piracy. Other areas are the Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean, such as off the coast of Somalia. But the biggest risk to the biggest ships is the Malaccas, where pirates have been getting bolder and bolder over the past TWENTY YEARS.
The pirates usually chase large vessels in high speed boats and board from behind. The target ship is often unaware of the pirates until they are aboard, because the ship's radar is meant to look forward for hazards, and there is almost always a blind spot in a large arc to the rear, due to the bridge and other superstructure. Some crews are lucky and survive. Others are killed or thrown overboard to die, and the target vessels are taken to a friendly port, sometimes after having a new name painted on at sea. The cargo is unloaded or sold with the ship.
All of this has been going on with hardly a word being said, and it happens as often as once PER WEEK and sometimes more.
My particular concern is that a pirated ship, repainted, renamed, and re-registered in some cesspool country of convenience, could carry an awful lot of explosives, people, nuclear weapons or other dangerous material right into a major port.
The United Nations, as usual, is dragging it's ass on addressing the problem. Individual captains try to solve the problem by posting stern watches, traveling at maximum allowable speed (often dangerous, especially where sealanes cross), and running with every light available turned on. Large private yachts have started carrying electified rails and fences. Small sailboats are advised to simply avoid dangerous areas.
Strange this topic is being discussed just now.as a week ago I was reviewing an early posting of my with some-one involved with anti-terrorism.And it seems from our conversation,Hugh,you have good reason to be concerned.The gut feeling I got that the next big attack will come from this direction.
Will History Repeat Itself? The Danger of Explosives-Laden Ships in Commercial Harbors
Less than 100 years ago a tragic and devastating collision between two ships in Halifax, Nova Scotia demonstrated the massive potential for catastrophic destruction posed by ships carrying explosive cargoes.
On December 6, 1917, two freighters - the 420-foot Imo and the 320-foot Mont Blanc - collided in Halifax Harbor. The Mont Blanc was laden with 180 tons of TNT, 2,300 tons of picric acid and 10 tons of gun cotton. The resulting explosion destroyed more than 300 acres of Halifax city, killed more than 2,000 residents, and injured more than 9,000. It was the largest man-made explosion prior to the atomic bomb.
On June 22, Greek authorities intercepted the Baltic Sky, a merchant vessel fictitiously registered under the Comoro Islands. The ship was loaded with 750 tons of ammonium nitrate-based explosives known as ANFO as well as a reported 8,000 detonators. ANFO is primarily used in the mining and construction industry. Greek authorities boarded the vessel after receiving an anonymous tip concerning the suspicious transit of the vessel into Greek waters.
It is not uncommon for merchant vessels to transport explosives, a major concern in and of itself. The large quantity found on the Baltic Sky, however, was “extremely rare” according to Greek Merchant Marine spokesman Panayotis Tsianos told CNN on June 12, 2003. The ANFO was taken onboard in Tunisia and destined for Sudan, according to the captain, Anatoliy Baltak. Upon further investigation by Greek officials, mounting inconsistencies surrounding the Baltic Sky began to surface including a nonexistent delivery address in Sudan for the entire load of explosives. Furthermore, Greek authorities could not understand the unusual detour the Baltic Sky took from freely navigable international waters to Greek territorial waters. Some officials suggested the owner of the vessel, identified as Cristian McNulty, an Irish citizen, detoured the ship through Greek waters in order to stall the delivery and extort the buyer for more money. Sudanese representatives continue to profess the Baltic Sky affair was a legitimate business transaction and are pressing for the release of the seized ANFO. The explosives used in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were delivered to the al Qaeda operatives in a merchant ship much like the Baltic Sky.
Greek Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis compared the explosive power of the cargo carried by the Baltic Sky as, “tantamount to the power of an atomic bomb.” By way of comparison, it took only three tons of the same chemical compound to devastate the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in 1995. Terrorist acquisition of a ship carrying cargo similar to the Baltic Sky could have horrific consequences for port facilities, offshore oil platforms, cruise ships, and numerous other maritime targets.
The Halifax tragedy pales in comparison to the devastation a deliberate terrorist attack - using a ship loaded with a cargo like the Baltic Sky - could have in the world’s congested and highly populated ports. The threat posed by maritime terrorism is alarmingly real and if and when an attack occurs, the results will likely be catastrophic
READ MORE
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/004271.php
Its a long posting but I dont think it should be ignored
The US navy does the thankless job of keeping the shipping lines in practically all the world's hotspots secure and open for business.... at the expense of the US taxpayer, if I may add.
They should sign on more like-minded allies in sharing this burden - Singapore, Thailand, India and Australia would surely have more than a passing interest in keeping the Malacca straits business-worthy.
voletti
Singapore, Thailand, India and Australia are interest to co-operate but there is a lot of protests from Malasia and Indonesia,where the Malacca Straigt pass through
I and thankful for the US presense in this area,should their be any serious problems here we ex-pats have evcuations to go,where the US navy can pull us out
Over the last few years I have been put on Alert to get out from the English Embassy.
Part of the problem is that the modern sea carrier industry simply factors piracy into its forecast account of gains and losses. They expect x amount of ships to be lost and cast their budgets accordingly. The crews hardly matter: except for military navies, citizens from rich and democratic countries have virtually ceased going to sea, and the crews of large commercial ships are by and at large assemblages of Filipinos, Indians, Africans and sea gypsies from God-knows-where, hired without any union or legal protection, often not speaking the same language as the commanders, and of no interest whatever to their employers. The sea has always been a difficult place to check the employment status of workers, and when post-Thatcherite laissez-faire has become the norm in international economic thinking, there is even less incentive to do so. The day one of our harbours is blown up as you describe, the big businessmen who run sea transport can look in the mirror for someone to blame.