Thread: Real Life Pirate Attacks on the Rise

USS Bainbridge DDG-96

Great pic, Copper, thanks!

That baby ought to put some fear into the hearts of the scumbag pirate thugs! Imagine looking up at THAT thing from a lifeboat!

USS Gettysburg CG-64 (also enroute to the Maersk Alabama)

Holy cow! Even better!!!!

NAIROBI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Navy warship arrived on Thursday off the Somali coast, where the captain of a U.S.-flagged freighter has been taken hostage by pirates, the shipping line said.

Navy warship arrives where captain held off Somalia

U.S. crew retakes ship, but captain hostage - Somalia- msnbc.com

The crew of the Maersk Alabama is im contact with the Navy. Sunrise in about an hour

April 08, 2009 10:31 PM EDT
UNDERHILL, Vermont - The family of hijacked ship captain Richard Phillips gathered in his Vermont farmhouse, anxiously watching news reports and taking telephone calls from the U.S. State Department to learn if he would be freed by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa.

"We are on pins and needles," said Gina Coggio, 29, half-sister of Phillips' wife, Andrea, as she stood on the porch of his one-story house on Wednesday in a light snow. "I know the crew has been in touch with their own family members, and we're hoping we'll hear from Richard soon."


Phillips, 55, was taken hostage Wednesday after his unarmed U.S. crew wrested control of the Maersk Alabama from the pirates and sent them fleeing to a lifeboat - with Phillips as their bargaining chip.

Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew, according to Coggio.

These two warships are assigned to Combined Task Force 151 or CTF-151, a multinational task force conducting counter-piracy operations to disrupt and deter piracy in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea. CTF 151 was established to create a lawful maritime order and develop security in the maritime environment. Other ships assigned to CTF-151 and currently in the Gulf of Aden on anti-piracy patrol:




HDMS Absalon L-16 (Denmark)







TCG Giresun F-491 (Turkey)



And the current flagship, USS Boxer LHD-4

On any day, there are between 15 and 20 warships on counter-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden from different navies that range from the United States and Britain to Russia, China and India. To underline the concerns that piracy have raised, there are three separate organisations involved - the US-led Combined Task Force 151, Nato and the European Union with Operation Atalanta. Countries such as Russia and China are not part of these operations, but apparently there is good communication between all the warships.

UPDATE:

The Maersk Alabama is now underway to its original destination, under the command of the First Officer. The Navy has sent along an 18 man security team on the ship.

The Captain is still captive in the lifeboat, which is out of fuel in the middle of the ocean. It is under surveillance by both an unmanned drone and a P3 Orion. The USS Bainbridge is also in plain sight.

The captain is reportedly unharmed.

One additional U.S. warship from Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), the frigate USS Halyburton FFG-40, is enroute to the location