BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: CarolC
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 10:09 AM

How do we know none of those things have ever happened before if they weren't being reported on? Seems to me, piracy was a total non-issue in the US until now, and the general tone the Western media has been taking lately in reference to Somalia suggests to me that the resource war there has just been ratcheted up to a new level.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:05 PM

Terribus-

I'm still thinking about convoys. They do make sense with assembly at the Red Sea end of the Suez Canal. However, I would think there could also be an assembly point somewhere in the Northwest corner of the India Ocean, before traversing the Gulf of Aden.

Of course once the Somali pirates begin cruising further out into the Indian Ocean shipping lanes, the security problem becomes even more complex.

I suppose the Somali in the southern half of this stateless state may make good their threat to move in force north and plunder the plunders in their home ports. But more likely they'll just take command of an efficient plundering system.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 02:14 PM

I suppose you could be right, Carol. But I am not as receptive to the idea of cunning, competence or foresight of American or other Western governments. One could come up with a list of piracy "firsts" in Southeast Asia, with a lot more effort than is available from Google news.

Still, I think it's more likely that, rather than clever design, the sharp uptick of activity in combination with the lack of government in Somalia, and the activity being so close to the source of energy, presents a situation where something CAN be done.

The phantom ships described in the RAND paper I cited at the top suggest a spiderweb of amazing fraud reaching into governments of otherwise "stable" countries. (They take a ship, erase the name and change the flag, with a few other nice details, and then they go into port, load up, and sail away with all the merchandise.)

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: CarolC
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 02:40 PM

I might be willing to believe that if the US government hadn't already been waging a covert oil war in Somalia using Ethiopia as its proxy.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 05:10 PM

Then again, France, India, South Korea, Russia, Spain, the U.S. and NATO have established a presence in the region. By UN Security Council resolution 1816 passed in June, states co-operating with Somalia's transitional government are permitted, through December, to enter its territorial waters and use "all necessary means" to "repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea."

(By the way, I suspect "oil war" is a term you conjured up for innuendo.)

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: M.Ted
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 05:56 PM

I lived in Philadelphia for a long time, and part of it's charm was that it was(and likely still is) a center of organized crime. There were a lot of truck hijackings, which, though they lack the romance of maritime piracy, amount to the same thing.

The thing is, when something happens over and over again, people start to talk--things like these:

1) How did so many truck drivers manage to pull off the expressway in the "wrong part of town", then find, out of all dead-end, empty streets in a big, dark city, the one where a crew of hijackers were waiting with just the right sized truck to haul off their trailer?

2)How do the hijackers manage to transfer so much merchandise from one vehicle to another, on city streets, without ever getting caught?

3)Why,does "hijacked" merchandise always seem to be name brand, high end designer goods, and name brand electronics, whereas, the shady, nameless fly-by-night guys who sell new, in-the-sealed box merchandise at flea markets and street fairs seem to have nothing but off-brand stuff?

4. Why, given that the truck hijackings seem to happen in the same areas, don't police have some sort of intensified surveillance?

5. Why do insurance companies seem to pay off these claims so quickly? (A lot of big insurance companies in Philly, too)

Of course these are idle questions from people with no expertise in transportation, law enforcement, or insurance. People with genuine expertise probably have simple, clear, and direct answers to these, and many other related questions;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Bobert
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 06:17 PM

And, M Ted, any city whos football fans snowballed Santa Clause can't be all bad...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 08:12 PM

Bobert-

You are enabling the hijacking of this Somali pirate thread! Cease and desist or you may hear a knock on your door at 3 in the morning from our black bag flying squad.

We don't want to do that!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: CarolC
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 11:02 PM

Oil war refers to conflicts that have at their core, access to and control of oil. Somalia and Sudan are both conflicts that center around oil. Countries like the US and China (and others) use proxies in such conflicts. In the case of Somalia, the US is using the Ethiopians. In Sudan, the US is using the rebels, and China is using the Sudanese government.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 01:22 AM

>>"The dramatic increase in the number of pirate attacks this year is a consequence of the complete breakdown of law and order in Somalia. But for a brief respite in 2006, the country has ceased to be a functioning state since the death of President Siad Barre in 1995. For most part of 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a coalition of Islamic jurists and civil society, managed to end the strife and throw out the warlords. However, the dreams of a lasting peace were shattered when the Ethiopian army, under instructions from Washington, invaded the country and ousted the government run by the Islamic Courts. The country once again plunged into a spiral of unremitting violence."<<


You seem to be quite right about this one.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 02:40 PM

The Ethiopians don't really need anyone to encourage them to invade and pacify Somalia. They've had several border wars in the last 50 years, some of which they initiated and some which were initiated by the Somali. However, I'm certain that someone at our embassy in Addis Ababa alerted the Ethiopian government that "we would not be displeased" if they invaded and brought down the Islamic Courts Union.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: heric
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 02:44 PM

>>Saudi is a Muslim country and it is very big crime to hold Muslim property," Osman said. "I warned again and again those who hold the ship must free it unconditionally or armed conflict should be the solution. If they don't free the ship, we will rescue it by force."

Since January, at least 91 vessels have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden . . . "

You've got to admire a gang with such a firm moral grounding. But aren't these the "good Muslims" that Cheney weakened with "Bad Muslims"? Damned hard to follow.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 07:59 PM

There were reports last evening that a squadron of armored vehicles had pulled into one of the pirate ports, the vehicles allegedly commanded by the al-Qaida rebel faction. There may be a showdown or maybe they'll be paid off. Or maybe they'll take a hint from the pirates and git outta town before sunset!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Amos
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 09:16 PM

One of the funniest things on this front was a complaint reported as having been voiced by one of the pirate officers concerning the negotiations for the huge ransom. He said it was annoying because the middle-men were not bona-fide members of the target corporations in Saudi, and they "couldn't get anyone trustworthy to deal with".

Its just a shame it's so hard for pirates to get trustworthy connections anymore. What's the world coming to???



A

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 09:37 PM

Amos-

You're right! The Somali pirates would be greatly relieved if they were dealing with someone like you. Are you busy this weekend?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 09:50 PM

Uhh, Bobert. I know you got plans, but, um, do we have a *specific* plan for when squadrons of armored vehicles and guys with RPGs and stones pull into one of our pirate ports?






And I don't mean kickin into Rainy Day Women or something.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Amos
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 10:06 PM

Well, I'd do what they did--head out for blue water and thumb my nose at those half-tracks.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 12:00 AM

Teribus and the Pirates.

There's the makings of a good comic-strip right there.

Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 09:01 AM

Seamus-

That's a great idea, and we might even find a sponsor for it in Ely or one of the other pirate ports. What a cast of characters!

Odd that we haven't heard more about the squadron of armored cars. Maybe they ran out of gas or were waylaid by beautiful pirate queens.

I think I'll do some more trawling on the Web.

Evidently the NATO naval units are only escorting food relief ships.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 09:21 AM

Evidently one way to arrive in Northern Somalia, the port of Berbera, is via boat from Yemen: clink here for a good time!

The young tourist (above link) had a good time but was somewhat put off by persistent assurances by the local denizens that "It's perfectly safe here!" whenever he struck up a conversation.

I was unable to find any direct flights to anywhere in Somalia. So maybe one needs to travel via boat from Yemen or lorry from Ethiopia or Kenya. What great fun!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 09:42 AM

CarolC said, in part:

How do we know none of those things have ever happened before if they weren't being reported on?

The joker in your comment is the words "reported on".

Although these incidents have not been front-page news, any pirate taking of a ship is "reported on" to the insurers, at the very least, and there are records. So at the very least the insurers know that this was the largest tanker taken.

The volume of oil in this taking? That's part of this incident, and the previous paragraph applies.

"The first mother ship taken"? This incident and any previous mother ships taken (if there had been any) would be "reported on" to the navy and perhaps sponsoring international authority, such as NATO.

And so on with the other "firsts" mentioned above. Many things are known which are not given a big play in the various media.

And, Carol, you talked about the US "fighting a covert oil war in Somalia."   I don't believe that either Somalia or Ethiopia is a significant oil producer.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 10:39 AM

Dave-

There have been active oil exploration efforts off the coasts of Eritrea and Somalia. Ethiopia itself no longer has a coastline.

Charley Noble, geographer at large

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Teribus
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 10:55 AM

The US is supposedly "fighting a covert oil war in Somalia." according to CarolC.

Like Dave O I'd love to know how? As far as Sudan is concerned the exploration deals are predominantly with the Chinese and the Indians. As for Somalia whatever oil anybody thinks it has is just that purely speculation, which is rather odd. I would have thought that if you were going to fight a "covert oil war" anywhere, by proxy or any other means, you would be best advised to determine whether or not there was any oil there in the first place, at present there's none.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 01:12 PM

Teribus-

You are correct that much of the oil exploration reports are speculative. One of the areas where there has been reconnaissance is known as the Ogaden, which straddles the border of Ethiopia and Somalia. I believe a Chinese reconnaissance team was recently held hostage by one faction of rebels during their work there.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 01:18 PM

Evidently the incident I was thinking of happened in the spring of 2007: Clink here!

Natural gas was the focus of the exploration.

So the Ogaden may hold significant reserves to be exploited if there is ever peace in the area.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 01:22 PM

More details about the attack on the Chinese oil field workers and their guards in the Ogaden: clink here!

Maybe it's not such a good idea to hitch a ride into Somalia by lorry through the Ogaden.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Barry Finn
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 01:11 PM

Any one that travels by boat knows that any info on Pirates, world wide is published monthly in boating mags & periododicals. The governmet also puts out notices to travelers. Piraticy has been reported on for at least the last 30 yrs in various maritime publications that I can remember, this has been the most newsworthy though. In the distant past it mostly involoved drugs, we're now in a brave & BOLD new world.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:58 PM

The latest report indicated that the pirates had moved the Saudi supertanker further out to sea, in response to the incursion by the South Somalis.

There was an interesting BBC interview with one of the pirate leaders (his face was discretely blurred) in his compound ashore where he explained that they were only in it for the money and would prefer not to injure anyone. Evidently they don't need a press agent if they can keep generating statements like that.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:03 PM

Here's the best link I could find for an update: click arrgggh!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 10:14 AM

The latest update on pirate activities in the Gulf of Aden has to do with the pirate "mother ship" that was sunk by an Indian Naval Ship Tabar. It turns out that the ship that was sunk in flames was a Thai trawler that had been recently captured by Somali pirates; only one Thai fisherman survived the sinking, rescued four days later by another passing fishing boat. Here are more details: Click here for article

The Indian Navy should not be blamed for sinking the trawler, after being fired upon. But they might have made more of an attempt to search for survivors.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 10:28 AM

In a related story to the overall situation in Somalia, the Ethiopian government has just announced that it plans to withdraw its military forces, which have been propping up the fragile transitional government for the last two years, by the end of December. Here are more details: click here for article

Evidently the Ethiopians are finding the occupation as frustrating (and costly) as the Bush Administration's occupation of Iraq. The current prime minister and the president of the acting government have been feuding as well. No one should be optimistic about what will happen after the Ethiopian forces withdraw.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Skivee
Date: 28 Nov 08 - 04:44 PM

For those of us who follow Weebls

Yar

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Penny S.
Date: 29 Nov 08 - 06:19 AM

Mitch Benn on the Now Show, repeated 12.30 on BBC R4, has a Somali pirates' shanty.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 08:05 PM

Here's an intriguing update on how helpful security guards can be: Click here for article

The shipowners may not be especially pleased with how well this team of guards defended their ship.

I can't seem to find a report that I heard on ABC news this evening that the Ukranian transport with the tanks and ammunition had been successfully ransomed and released. Maybe someone else can find this breaking news.

Penny-

I'd love to have the lyrics to the Somali pirate song.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Barry Finn
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 09:03 PM

Unarmed security guards to hold off pirates from boarding a ship is like asking rent-a-cops or the 'KeyStoneCpooers' to protect the president of Iraq. They shoul've invested a little bit more money & hired Black-Water, after all if they're good enough for US,,,,,,

Time to resale (pun) or reconstitute the USS Constitution. Put a few Marines on board to help out the Navy though don't want to see her ransomed off, terrorists would sink her no matter what we paid.

How do we get planes back from highjackers or get hostaged crew & passangers back?
Give pirates no quarter, let them rot, hanging in chains at the entrance to their home harbors.
Pay the 15 million for the ship & it's 100 milion in cargo, fuck 'em, if no one pays what are they gonna do sink the ship, it's sitting in their habor, they sink it they'll have to bathe in it, fish in it & eat off it's shores. If they kill any crew, kill their kids, 2 for each 1 they kill, they won't escape if they're surrounded & they're called on it. So they'll give their lives up if attacked, not if they can be id'd & their worldly possions conficated & their families imprisoned for knowning excepted stolen goods, properties & benifiting from criminal actions. After all the wifes of pirates must know that the nice new homes they're living in came from somewhere other than catching fish.

After seeing the rottin corpuses of unsuccessfull & poor pirates hanging from cages along the waterfront it might send the message that piracy doesn't pay.
Maybe the international community should look to split the nation up & give the land over to the bordering nations, better yet the bording nations can bid on Somalia & the proceeds turn back to help Somalia get back on it's feet. Who could we trust to oversee that?????

Either way, hanging or drowning. Trouble with drowning is that it's not a punishment that you can show off nearly as well as a good hanging, they could hang forever, the crows or whatever kind of scavenger birds they have there, they could feed on rotten carcuss for months.

Now I hate the idea of Blackwater or any of their ilk getting anymore contracts but these aren't nice folk anyway, so what if the pirates get a few of them, it'll only make it worst when the Blackwater people get hold of the pirates. Don't they like to waterboard? I'm sure they'll show these former fishfolk something about surfing, Skinning & filleting. One good turn deserves another, give 'em a dose of their own medicine.

Us folk singers & singer/songwriters will have a whole new batch of material for new songs too. Think of it, there have been no new traditional pirate songs folked up since, well a century & a half at least, maybe, not traditional anyway. We could even have it better. Sned singer-song writers on board these tankers & pirate prone attacked ships & they can wirte songs 1st handed, don't even have to go through the collection step or the folk process. Wow, instant traditional pirate songs. Helen Creighton, would die for this. And what better way for the singer/songwriter to serve the folk community, so we lose a few, all the better for the long life of folk, folk will live on for a few more hundred years. A few good battles, some plank walking & some keelhauling, feeding to the sharks, this could be a gold mine, the hell with the cargo's of oil.

I'm out of here, fore I get hunged by the aft.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 08:57 AM

Here's an interesting turn of events, an American woman, Michelle Balarin, negotiating with the Somali pirates directly: click here for article

This is definitely a story scripted for hollywood production!

Barry-

You're gonna have to shake a leg if you really want to get in on this. Michelle may be far more successful than augmenting defensive tactics, or not! I'd also love to see the old Constitution sailing up and down the Somali coast, cannons at the ready. The pirates might also be amused.

A Yemen ship was reportedly released without ransom after negotiations.

And it seems as if the Ukrainian transport is close to a deal for release.

If the Ethiopian armed forces choose to leave Somalia at the end of December, as recently announced, you can expect the transitional government to fold and flee faster than it takes to process your grocery bill with an ATM card at the local supermarket.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 09:05 AM

Here's a link to an image of one of the Somali pirate queens, Fatima, who is moonlighting as a fashion model: Click here!

Once the Somali get a foothold, there's no holding them back!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Penny S.
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 05:47 PM

Link to play again page of programme.

I don't know how well this plays, as my computer is on dial up and it doesn't like it.

Mitch Benn makes his living from writing this sort of stuff, in a variety of styles, very impressively. Perhaps passing on lyrics is not right?

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 06:31 PM

Just for the record, I have called off my recruitment program and am happy with the crew that I have assembled... You all know who you are and know the secret handshake and know everything ya'll need to know...

That make you happy, Charley???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 08:24 PM

Bobert-

What is going on in real time is well beyond anything we have imagined! LOL

Penny-

I don't know if your link really works either. Anyone had any success with it? We do need the lyrics of the Somali pirate song if anyone can transcribe them.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 08:31 PM

Just remember what Bruce Springstein sang in his song, "Big Muddy" ("Lucky Town" CD), Charley... "Sooner or later it all comes down to money"...

Know what I mean???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Dec 08 - 08:41 PM

Bobert-

Sure, it's all about money!

Here's one new Somali pirate song I was able to harvest from the web:

By Susanna Viljanen, © 11-29-08
Parody of "Sleigh Ride"

Sea Raid (The Somali Pirate Song)

Just arm those AK-forty-sevens and get a spare clip or two
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sea raid together with you
At sea we'll tankers go raiding and we'll be yelling "Yoo-hoo!"
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sea raid together with you

Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, raid we
We're wolves of the sea -
We're riding on a speedboat armed to teeth
All around, all around the Somali coast
The tankers are toast -
We raid the merchantmen now and then and with Jolly Roger we boast -

Our boats are swift and speedy and goddamn greedy are we
No more we sabres swing-a-ling, we assault rifles have, indeed
Let's raid that Western merchantman and take a hostage or two
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sea raid together with you

Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, raid we
We're wolves of the sea -
We're riding on a speedboat armed to teeth
All around, all around the Somali coast
The tankers are toast -
We raid the merchantmen now and then and with Jolly Roger we boast -

We'll send them to Davy Jones as skull and cross-bones we boast
Around the Horn of Africa and all along Somali (sic) coast
We'll smuggle a truckload of heroin and some nicotine too -
Come on, it's life of pirate, going sea raid together with you!

Sea raid together with you
(Sea raid together with you)

It's not a particularly good one, in my opinion, but it's fresh!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: CarolC
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 02:11 AM

Here's some more information about Somalia and oil...

http://www.netnomad.com/fineman.html

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 08:29 AM

Carol-

An excellent report on the exploration for oil in Somalia. There's no doubt in my mind that the potential for oil and gas fields make this dysfunctional country of continuing interest to the international energy producers.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Teribus
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:34 AM

An article from 18th January 1993!!!!!

Since when everybody and their dog has shunned the place like the plague, even with oil attaining a price of $147 per barrel.

Oh! Yes, of course, the "big bad oil corporations" could afford to ignore the Somali oil because they were too busy stealing Iraq's oil and building pipelines to transport Caspian oil and gas across Afghanistan to where was it again??

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 06:59 PM

Teribus-

Please review the other posts above and you will discover that your statement "everybody and their dog has shunned the place like the plague" is incorrect. You will find that there was also more current oil and gas exploration on-going in the Ogaden, a Somali occupied territory in Ethiopia, where a Chinese exploration team and their guards were killed or captured last year by the regional liberation group.

The point is that there are likely large reserves of oil and gas on both sides of the border in Somalia and Ethiopia, and until some level of peace is restored no further exploration or exploitation can safely take place. Perhaps that is what you meant.

In the meantime piracy makes economic sense for some in northern Somalia (Puntland).

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: CarolC
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 07:26 PM

The old article is appropriate because it gives an account of what was going on then (we call that history in retrospect), without the distortion of time. The article I posted gives background on the history of the conflict and the role oil has played in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Barry Finn
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:08 PM

If the pirates don't wrap this up soon with the drop in oil prices their cargo won't be worth the ship that floats it & I can't imagine the oil outfits & shipping companies care that much about their crews.
Actually they should not bargin with the pirates at all, let them keep the oil, they'll be begging for a halh million in a week instead of demanding 15, at this rate they'll end up having to give the crews back, they won't be able to afford to feed them.
Set the ship ablaze, it'll be the last time they eat where they shit.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 08:03 AM

Evidently a major cruise ship was attacked yesterday in the Gulf of Aden by two small pirate boats but was able to escape at full speed, despite having shots fired at it. Score one for the Bold Princess Royal:

"Thank, God," cried our captain when that pirate had gone,
"Go down to your grog, me boys, go down everyone;
Go down to your grog, me boys, and be of good cheer,
For while we have sea room, we've nothing to fear."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
From: heric
Date: 03 Dec 08 - 01:11 PM

The pirates will finance part of the purchase of Citgroup by selling new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities. The PRBS's are backed by the cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden. Moody's and S&P have already issued a AAA investment grade rating for the PRBS's.

Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu, said "We need a bank so that we have a place to keep all of our ransom money. Thankfully, the dislocations in the capital markets have allowed us to purchase Citigroup at an attractive valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital."

Shandu added, "We don't call ourselves pirates. We are a privately run coast guard and this will just allow us to guard our coasts better."

Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Bernanke promised today to take "whatever steps are needed" for Somali pirates.

http://optionarmageddon.ml-implode.com/2008/12/02/somali-pirates-in-discussions-to-acquire-citigroup/