Pirates Take Ukrainian Ship Carrying Tanks

Somali pirates have captured the MV Faina, a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying 33 Soviet-type T-72 tanks and ammunition. Warships, including the US guided missile destroyer Howard, have the ship surrounded. The world community needs to sink the ship or take it back, without paying off the pirates.

Sugule Ali Omar, a spokesman for the criminals, said the ship would be released on payment of a $20 million ransom. He added, “It is true we are surrounded by three foreign military vessels and there are some others we can see [in the] distance. We are not afraid of their presence; that will not make us abandon the ship or to refrain from asking for the money.”

Somalia hasn’t had a real government in 17 years, and the civil war there is still killing people. With 33 tanks at their disposal, the pirates have the capacity to prolong the conflict or could determine the outcome depending on which side buys the tanks. For that reason, the cargo cannot be permitted to reach shore. And since it was destined for Sudan, another place with too many people killing each other, the cargo probably shouldn't make it to its destination either.

There is, rightly, some concern for the crew of the Faina and their fate should the US or another nation use force against the pirates. However, the Russian captain, Vladimir Kolobkov, has reportedly died, and his second-in-command announced it via radio giving no details. If this is true, the crew’s fate is not a promising one.

The solution is pretty clear, and it involves helicopters and Navy SEALs. And if the United States is unwilling to use force, there is a Russian warship, the Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, also en route to the area. Piracy is a crime that any nation is allowed to punish. With 60 ships attacked off the coast of Somalia this year, making the deployment of warships in the area permanent wouldn’t be a bad idea.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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