Details Emerge in Story of Indian Navy Sinking Pirate Ship

It may seem odd to be reporting on the sinking of pirate ships in the 21st Century, but that’s exactly what happened yesterday when an Indian Navy frigate identified and destroyed a vessel suspected to be the "mother ship" of the Somali pirates that have been terrorizing the seas off the coast of east Africa over the past several months. When the frigate commander ordered the suspect ship to stop to be searched, they were met with open hostility. "They responded on the offensive and said that they would blow up the Indian naval ship," said Commander Nirad Sinha, a navy press officer. Thereafter, apparently, the pirates opened fire on the larger ship, precipitating the sinking of the outlaw’s craft.

The Indian frigate, the INS Tabar, is a 400-foot ship that is armed with cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and a series of six-barreled 30 mm machine guns that are especially effective in close combat. And while the Indian navy’s victory over the ne’er do well pirates is heartening, it is likely not an indication that the piracy that has recently run rampant will begin a decline. According to Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Malaysia, "It’s getting out of control. 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."

According to Choong, recent attacks on commercial vessels has left 17 ships in the hands of pirates, as well as 300 captured crew members, a variety of weapons taken from a Ukrainian ship and $100 million worth of crude oil that was captured just this past weekend. That hijacking has led to some fairly extreme measures, with Odfjell SE, a Norwegian shipping company, ordering its ships to sail around Africa rather than traversing the Suez Canal. There is no word of any specific concerted effort to rid the region of pirates altogether, but one would assume that it is only a matter of time – and perhaps many more millions in lost ships and cargo – before a unified world effort is put in place to eradicate the pirates.