Boxboat Hijack east of Socotra

[dawg]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-2 ... en-1-.html
http://eng.maritimepress.com/news/artic ... ?idxno=697
http://www.seanews.com.tr/article/TURSH ... n-Tianjin/
http://www.joc.com/maritime/hanjin-boxs ... te-attacks

I saw this report at the time, as we weren't a million miles away.
Two ships ran into trouble, a 15kt bulker, and this 21kt small containership.
'twas an eyebrow raiser... initial reports suggested that "commercial pressure" had persuaded the Korean master to take the straightest line between the bottom of SriLanka and the easternmost tip of Socotra, at full speed, and possibly resulted in some engine failure, leaving them a dead ship waiting to be boarded, news articles since paint different pictures...

I'm sceptical of Korean news reports, as I know something about how that country works.

Are we to believe that pirate motherships can do 20+ knots for long enough to lassoo a large vessel?

....meanwhile

Piracy at sea hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2011, with 142 attacks worldwide, according to the latest global piracy report by the International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.joc.com/maritime/piracy-cost ... y-billions

at least 49 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 769 hostages or captives - including a South-African yachting couple as well as a Danish yacht-family with two children

http://somaliweyn.somaliweyn.org/index. ... s&Itemid=9

...they now seem to be getting serious about normalising armed guards on ships, with a conference in Dubai.