Nicely accomplished! Brave crew of HK-flagged ship hold pirates at bay Stephen Chen Nov 14, 2009 Email to friend Print a copy Bookmark and Share A Chinese cargo carrier was involved in a dramatic clash with Somali pirates on Thursday, Xinhua reported. Two sailors were wounded, and the pirates retreated when the Chinese navy came to the rescue. The crew of the Fuqiang spotted the pirates approaching at 2.30pm Beijing time, said Wei Jiafu , president of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, owner of the ship. The vessel was hurrying to a rendezvous point in the Gulf of Aden to join a PLA Navy escort when the pirate's speedboat appeared on the horizon. Wei said the pirates opened fire on the Fuqiang and hooked an iron ladder on its side. The crew threw whatever they had at the pirates to prevent them from scaling the ladder. They lit bottles of petrol and threw them at the pirates, sprayed quicklime powder and hit them with a high-pressure water gun. However, the pirates continued their attack. A helicopter took off from a nearby PLA Navy gunship and arrived within an hour of the SOS. When it arrived, the pirates were making their third effort to board. The pirates retreated upon arrival of the helicopter. Xinhua did not say whether it opened fire. Two members of the Fuqiang's crew suffered arm injuries, Wei said, adding that some risked their lives and approached the side of the ship to dislodge the ladder. It was the second time in a week that a Hong Kong-flagged ship was attacked by Somali pirates. Transport Minister Li Shenglin praised the crew's courage and urged all Chinese vessels to be on guard against pirates.
Somali pirates are everywhere around that region, these crew members were pretty brave, lucky the Chinese navy came in time. Similar situation last time with another Chinese crew fighting off pirates.
The thing that bothers me greatly in this ongoing saga of open ocean piracy, is the fact that these shipping companies refuse to allow ship crews to arm and defend themselves. They talk about problems with insurance, legalities, et cetera, while some two bit robbery crew in a skiff can then hold a multimillion dollar ship and crew hostage. Further, even if these pirates are caught, they're generally let go. My position would be to use lethal and deadly force on any act of piracy; instead of capturing them and then trying to figure out the legalities, they should let the fishes and other marine life sort them out. Just blow them out of the water and keep going. Additionally, cargo ships need to be redesigned to face the reality that ocean going theft is going to be with us for a very long time. Who can remember when car doors didn't have locks? At one point in history, the idea was laughed at. Ships need to be designed to make ocean going boarding impossible unless allowed by the crew. And kudos to the crew, indeed. But Eviltofu points out a very serious problem; what if the PLA (or other navy) vessel wasn't in the area. Would the crew then have been able to hold out? I doubt it, as these pirates will try again and again until they board the ship. It would have been only a matter of time until they wore the crew down. But, should a commercial carrier's civilian merchant crew be required to "act bravely" and battle armed pirates? Is this what the crew signed on for? If not then I certainly hope they're getting paid a lot more, or else they're suckers to risk their lives like this.
