PrairiePundit

 The Lid: On July 5, Iran launched two attempts to seize oil tankers near the coast of Oman. They’ve seized or attacked at least 20 merchant ships since 2021. This time, the US Navy intervened and stopped the attacks. ... Iran's actions look like piracy.  

 Fox News: Iran seizes ship in Gulf of Oman, US Navy says The vessel was flagged by the Marshall Islands and was on its way to Houston, Texas ... "The oil tanker issued a distress call during the seizure," the US Navy's 5th Fleet said. "Iran‘s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. ... " Advantage Sweet was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy while transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman," NAVCENT said. "Iran's continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy," the statement continued. "In the past two years, Iran has unlawfully seized at least five commerical vessels sailiing in the Middle East. The US Navy's 5th Fleet is reportedly monitoring the situation as it develops. It should be treated as an act of piracy by Iran. 

 Lynn Corum: Where was the US Navy when Iran Took Over the Strait of Hormuz? ...   On Tuesday, August 3, at least   six ships   off the coast of the UAE in the Gulf of Oman suddenly announced via their Automatic Identification System trackers, nearly simultaneously, that they were "not under command."  In other words, they had lost power and could no longer control their steering.  Shortly afterward,   Britain's maritime trade agency   reported a "potential hijack" unfolding off the UAE coast.  One of the stricken ships, the   Asphalt Princess   tanker, was   boarded by operatives   suspected of being Iranian troops,   seized and towed   into Iranian waters, and then   released   the following day. This was not the first attack against a tanker off the UAE in the Gulf of Oman.  Iran apparently used one or more armed drones to carry out a deadly tanker attack the previous Thursd...

  Daily News: Ship is 'hijacked' by 'Iranian forces' off the UAE coast just days after Iranian kamikaze drone strike in the Gulf The Shia religious bigots in Iran appear to have gone completely rogue against commercial shipping. 

 Newsweek: South Korea is sending military forces to respond to the seizure of one of its tankers by Iran, an endeavor in which it is seeking to work with other nations operating in the region. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard announced Monday that its Zulfiqar fleet had seized a South Korean vessel operating in the Islamic Republic's First Naval District in the Persian Gulf "due to a series of violations of marine environmental laws" after it departed from Saudi Arabia's Al-Jubail port. The ship, Hankuk Chemi, was said to be transporting up to 7,200 tons of oil-based chemicals, and carrying a crew of South Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Myanmar nationals. Both ship and crew are being held at Iran's Bandar Abbas port, where the Revolutionary Guard said "the issue is to be dealt with by the judicial officials." In response to the incident, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told Newsweek the country, officially known as the Republic of Korea...

Telegraph: With rich Caribbean fishing grounds on their doorstep, the villagers of Cedros in Trinidad are never short of fishermen's tales to tell. The latest stories to do the rounds though, are not about record-breaking hauls of kingfish. Today the fishermen themselves have become the catch. "I was out picking up my nets late one afternoon when a boatload of armed men came at me at full speed," said Brian Austin, 54. "From about 200 metres away they started firing shots around my boat - it was terrifying. Luckily, I have a high-powered engine, so I managed to speed off, but they took my nets and all the fish in them." On that occasion, Mr Austin was the one that got away. Other local fishermen tell tales of being robbed of their boats, beaten, and even kidnapped - all victims of a new wave of pirates sweeping the Caribbean. Operating with speedboats rather than tall ships, they have made the waters around Trinidad just as perilous as they were in Black...

Washington Post: Europe plans military response to migrant crisis The E.U. will need authorization from the U.N. Security Council to destroy ships in the Mediterranean before they take on human cargo, a business that has left 1,800 migrants dead so far this year. They may need to eventually put troops ashore to stop this ghoulish trade.  Trying to stop them once they are aboard a ship is much more difficult.   All forms of piracy need to be attacked at their source.

This looks like a very active naval response to piracy.

MSN News: EU court orders France to pay thousands to Somali pirates This ruling is another piece of evidence of the rot that passes for legal thinking in the EU.

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix: Hijackings of small oil tankers by armed gangs are increasing in Southeast Asia, home to the shortest sea-trade route between the Middle East and China, even as pirate attacks globally fell for a third year. Five of the six vessels seized worldwide in the third quarter were in Southeast Asia, said the International Maritime Bureau and International Chamber of Commerce. There’s been 178 global piracy incidents so far this year, down from 352 in 2011, they said in an e-mailed report today. Gangs of thieves armed with knives and guns are making Southeast Asian waters increasingly dangerous for small tankers carrying fuels such as gas oil or marine diesel, according to the report. The region includes the Malacca Strait connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and the Pacific that’s been described by the U.S. Energy Information Administration as one of the world’s “most strategic choke points.” ... In Somalia, where armed guards and naval patrols have help...

NY Post: Britney Spears is being used as a secret weapon to fight Somali pirates. The singer’s hits are being blasted out by tanker crews to deter kidnap attacks, merchant navy officer Rachel Owens has told Metro UK. Spears’s chart-toppers “Oops! I Did It Again and Baby One More Time” have proved to be the most effective at keeping the bandits at bay. Second Officer Owens, who works on supertankers off the east coast of Africa, said: “Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most. “These guys can’t stand Western culture or music, making Britney’s hits perfect.” Ships in the region are in constant danger from gun-toting pirates boarding and kidnapping crews for million-dollar ransoms. Ms. Owens, who regularly guides huge tankers through the waters, said the ship’s speakers can be aimed solely at the pirates so as not to disturb the crew. “It’s so effective the ship’s security rarely needs to resort to firing guns,” she said. ... Th...

Betsy McCaughey: In 2009 Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship flying the American flag, and took the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, for ransom. The United States Navy dispatched three warships, two helicopters and a surveillance drone and parachuted in the famous Navy SEAL Team 6 to rescue Phillips in a six-day feat portrayed in the newly released movie "Captain Phillips." Anyone watching this real-life thriller will ask: Why wasn't a similar rescue mounted at Benghazi, Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and other Americans were attacked on Sept. 11, 2012? On day six of Phillips' captivity at sea, Navy SEAL marksmen positioned on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge were given the go-ahead to shoot the three pirates holding Phillips, because one of them had a AK-47 pointed at Phillips' back. That authorization came from President Obama. But where was the president on the night of Sept. 11, 2012? According to congressional testimo...

Guardian: The EU's naval force off the Somali coastline on Tuesday carried out its first air strikes against pirate targets on shore, officials said. Maritime aircraft and attack helicopters took part in the attacks early in the morning on the mainland, a spokesman said. No casualties were reported in the raid along  Somalia 's central coastline in the region of Galmudug. The long coastline of war-torn Somalia provides a perfect haven for pirate gangs preying on shipping off the east African coast. The EU is the main donor to the Somali transitional government. It also trains Somali army troops, and is reinforcing the navies of five neighbouring states to enable them to counter piracy themselves. "This action against piracy is part of a comprehensive EU approach to the crisis in Somalia, where we support a lasting political solution on land," said Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. Since December 2008, the EU has ke...

Guardian: Cuts force Royal Navy to drop Somalia piracy patrol The British Navy can no longer be called Great.  Socialism has brought the country into a second rate power slipping toward third rate if things are not turned around.  Social spending has made the UK weaker and less prosperous.

Fox News: The U.S. Navy is deploying robot helicopters that can spot pirate boats -- even when they're in a crowded sea lane.  Unlike their movie versions, real pirates don't identify themselves by flying a jolly roger. Navy ships try to identify the thieves by deploying both drones with cameras and human pilots, but in coastal areas with a lots of boats, it isn't easy to spot the one that's hostile. A sailor might have to watch hours of video to find the right one. The Navy turned to a combination of different sensing technologies to address this. Called the Multi-Mode Sensor Seeker, or MMSS, an unmanned helicopter uses high-definition cameras, mid-wave infrared sensors and laser-radar (LADAR) to find the boat.   Meanwhile, sophisticated software allows the helicopter to identify the target independently of the operator. The software on board compares a 3-D image to templates and schematics in its memory. ... This is an example of what the choppers ...

BBC: The European Union has agreed to expand its mission against Somali pirates, by allowing military forces to attack land targets as well as those at sea. In a two-year extension of its mission, EU defence ministers agreed warships could target boats and fuel dumps. The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the move is a significant step-up in operations, but one that also risks escalation. Up to 10 EU naval ships are currently on patrol off the Horn of Africa. They have policed shipping routes and protected humanitarian aid since 2008. The extension means they will stay until at least December 2014. An EU official said the new mandate would allow warships or helicopters to fire at fuel barrels, boats, trucks or other equipment on beaches, according to Agence France-Presse. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters: "The EU plan is to allow attacks on land installations when ships are assaulted at sea," adding that ...

NY Post: US Special Forces troops flew into Somalia on a nighttime helicopter raid early Wednesday, freed an American and a Danish hostage and killed nine of the kidnappers in a mission that President Obama said he personally authorized.   The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were freed and "are on their way to be reunited with their families."   The raiders came in very quickly, catching the guards as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were missing.   A second pirate who gave his name as Ahmed Hashi said two helicopters attacked at about 2 a.m. about 12 miles north of the Somali town of Ada...

The Envoy: U.S. Navy rescues Iranians from Somali pirates The State Department and Defense Department are treating this like a PR coup.  I doubt it will have any effect on Iran and it may even put the saved crew in danger once they return to Iran.  I do not see it changing anything about the state of play in the Straights of Hormuz.  Iran will still be determined to block the straights if it can't sell its oil.

Reuters/Arab News: Somali pirates have been using Yemen’s remote Horn of Africa island of Socotra as a refueling hub enabling their attack craft to stay restocked for longer periods at sea and pose a greater hazard to shipping, maritime sources say. Despite an international naval presence in the region, seaborne gangs have been exploiting political turmoil in Yemen to pick up fuel, and possibly other supplies including food, sources told Reuters. “Socotra has been used for months if not longer,” said Michael Frodl, with C-LEVEL maritime risk consultancy and an adviser to Lloyd’s of London underwriters, citing intelligence reports he was privy to. “It is perhaps the most important refueling hub for hijacked merchant vessels used as motherships, especially those operating between the Gulf of Aden and India’s western waters, mainly off Oman and increasingly closer to the Strait of Hormuz.” ... There is much more. The US may have an opportunity to exploit when the ships come...

Image via Wikipedia BBC: Five Somali men convicted of attacking a US Navy ship they mistook for a merchant vessel have been sentenced to life in prison. The men were found guilty in November of trying to hijack the USS Nicholas , a vessel on an anti-piracy mission. Defence lawyers claimed the men had been abducted by pirates and forced to fire their weapons in the April attack. The men were the first convicted of piracy by a US jury since 1820, prosecutors said. ... I am surprised they did not plead insanity. Related articles Five Somalis sentenced to life in piracy case (cnn.com)