Re: Letters of marque

From: <DAWGFACE47@webtv.net>

> LAST YEAR, I	saw a special on a TV channel dealing with  FPBs
> conducting pirate operations in these waters.

> Secretly taken photos, showed  FPBs beyond any doubt coming alongside
> the containership that was pirated.
> 
> Best of all, LOL, was when the Aussie victims arrived in an Indonesian
> port to report what had  happened and found  the 2 FPBs sitting in
port
> at the Navy pier along with other FPBS. . .
> 
> According to the TV  program, incident s like this are on the  rise,
> with Indonisian, Malaysian, Thai,  ChiCom and  North Korean  Navy FPBs
> as well as  privately owned  FPBs  pulling off  more piratical
> boardings, killing, kidnappings for ransom, and grand  theft	.

That's the main reason why mercenary anti-pirate navies haven't been
used, as far as I can see. It's because the Pirates very often ARE
the local law-enforcement forces. Fight them and you automatically
become a pariah.

BTW I didn't know these films had been released for public distribution.
Could you give me some details re who showed them and when?

The problem is particularly acute in the South China Sea, where the
object of the theft is not just the contents of the ship's safe, it's
the cargo, and sometimes the ship itself as an additional bonus. The
crew
(if they're lucky) get held on "illegal immigration" charges and
released after a few years. If not, they dissappear.

Oh yes - the Cargo's usually worth several times the value of the ship.
That's why captured ships are often escorted into port A, unloaded,
then escorted out to mid-ocean. Then let go - or quietly sunk. As you
stated, many's the time the ship then makes for the nearest port - and
finds out that it's the one they got unloaded at, the pirate vessels are
tied up alongside, and the local Police Chief advises them not to make
waves or they'll get into trouble.

One day there'll be a reckoning. But not now, it would cause a War,
which
would be bad for business.