Score One For The... Indian Navy? Sinks Pirate Mothership

Well, at least there's one country out there to put their cajones on the worlds chopping block, and back their rhetoric with clear and concise action. Not that India is really known for having a major sea-force. But they are at least putting what they have to good use. Not content to sit around and wait for the world to do something about the pirating occurring off the Somali coastal waters, India has taken matters into their own hands.

Good on them. Bravo!

If only the rest of the world would hit their 'military puberty' as quickly.

What has sparked this new found appreciation from me for India? Just a few hours ago, an Indian Naval vessel has sunk what was described as a Pirate 'mothership.' Pirates have been utilizing larger ships to venture into deep water. It's from these larger (mother) ships which they strike at merchant vessels with smaller craft brought along by those motherships, effectively keeping them out of harms way. And just as importantly to them, out of range of identification should the raid fail.

Tuesday incidents raised to eight the number of ships hijacked this week alone. Since the beginning of the year, 39 ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, out of 95 attacked. Which is why I find India's actions so appealing. Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia has mentioned of the piracy problems, "It's getting out of control." Choong has also stated that, "There is no firm deterrent, that's why the pirate attacks are continuing, the criminal activities are flourishing because the risks are low and the rewards are extremely high."

Very high indeed. One merchant vessel that WAS captured Tuesday by a separate group of pirates, was the Saudi Arabian supertanker, the MV Sirius Star. Of which, was crewed by 25 men, and was carrying a full load of 2 million barrels of oil worth roughly $100 million. Tell me that's not a risk worth taking for a people with very little to nothing. Saudi Arabia has condemned the hijacking and said it will join the international fight against piracy. Where as they don't want to negotiate with terrorists and the like, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the owners of the tanker are "the final arbiter" on the issue.

But from my vantage point, India's willingness to get'er done, just makes my day.

There's more available in the AP article found HERE.