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© 1998-2011 Roger A. Lee and 01.29.11"The
History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. History
Guy SiteMap
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Read
the History Guy Weblog and the
War
and Conflict Journal--New
Joe
Stack Joins Other Domestic Terrorists on the
Dark Side of
History--History Guy
Commentary, posted Feb. 19, 2010
Fatah
vs. Usbat al-Ansar Fighting in the Ain al-Helweh
refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Four
killed.--posted Feb.
15, 2010
Maoist
Rebels Attack Indian
Forces--posted Feb.
15, 2010
Iran
War Creeping Upon
Us--posted Jan. 16,
2010
Earthquake
Adds to Haiti's Tragic
History--posted Jan.
13, 2010
Yemen
With al-Qaida Threat May Be New Front In
War--posted Jan. 4,
2010
al-Qaida
in North Africa
Strikes--posted Dec.
31, 2009
Attempt
to Bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on
Christmas Day
2009--posted Dec. 26,
2009
Joseph
Stalin: History's
Villain--posted Dec.
22, 2010
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|  Recent
Pirate Attacks |
Pirate
Attacks Map |
Links
and
Resources
Somalia is a chaotic and nearly
governmentless nation off the east coast of Africa, and
it is home to the world's best known contemporary
pirates. These pirates, who operate a financially
lucrative ship-hijacking operation, capture merchant
ships off the coasts of Yemen, Somalia, and Kenya, and
then hold them for ransom. The ship owners and their
insurance companies usually pay the ransom, sometimes in
the millions of dollars, because it is far cheaper than
losing the ship and cargo. For example, the Saudi oil
tanker seized on Nov. 17, 2008, had just been built, at a
cost of $150 million, and carried an oil cargo valued at
$100 million. Paying a ransom of even several million
dollars would save the ship and crew.
Naval vessels from around the world (United Stated,
United Kingdom, Russia, India, others), patrol the Somali
coast to protect merchant vessels. Due to Somalia's
proximity to the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal, nearly
16,000 ships travel off the coast every year. On Nov .
18, 2008, the Indian Navy ship INS Tabar battled a pirate
"mother ship" and sank it, killing an unknown number of
pirates.
The reasons piracy is thriving off the Somali coast
include the state of anarchy in Somalia since the early
1990s. Civil war destroyed the government, and in 2006,
Ethiopia invaded, (with American aid), to prevent the
rise of an Islamist government in Somalia. Also, as a
result of the fall of the Somali government, foreign
fishing ships began fishing the lucrative tuna catch off
the Somali coast, thereby causing economic damage to the
Somali fishing industry. Somali fishermen, with ready
access to small-arms and portable rockets due to the
civil war, took to the seas to make a living attacking
foreign fishing and cargo ships off their coast. This
spontaneous privateer activity eventually turned into the
highly organized and more heavily-armed pirate
organizations which have recently seized a Ukrainian
cargo ship full of weapons and the Saudi oil tanker.
On April 8, 2009, Somali pirates attacked
an American ship, the Maersk Alabama, some 380 miles
off the Somali coast. The standoff between the four
pirates and the U.S. Navy ended with the deaths of three
of the pirates. For further details, see Somali
Pirate Attack on the American Ship Maersk Alabama (April
2009).
See
also: History
Guy: The Barbary
Wars--America's original
response to piracy in the early 1800s. Recent
Pirate Attacks off the Somali Coast
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Date
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Nationality of Ship
Attacked
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Notes
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April 8-12, 2009
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United States
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Somali pirates seized an American-flagged ship,
the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean on April 8,
2009. click
here for details
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November 19, 2008
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Thailand
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Somali pirates hijack a Thai fishing ship with
16 crew members off the coast of Horn of
Africa.
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November 18, 2008
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India
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Indian Navy's stealth frigate INS Tabar spotted
a pirate ship accompanied by speedboats and
intercepted it. After the pirates threatened to
attack, the frigate opened fire at and sank the
main ship. There were no casualties reported on the
Indian side and the number of pirates killed in
this operation is unclear. After the "mother ship"
was destroyed, the pirates tried to flee in the two
accompanying speedboats. The Indian Navy chased the
boats and found one abandoned while the other
escaped into darkness. Though the Indian Navy did
not specifically mention, the U.S. Department of
State said that the Indian Navy did capture some of
the pirates. This was the third time the INS Tabar
fought pirates in a week.
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Nov. 17, 2008
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Saudi Arabia
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The Liberian-flagged, Saudi-owned ship MV Sirius
Star, which is owned by the Saudi oil company
Aramco, was hijacked 450 nautical miles southeast
of Mombasa, Kenya with 25 crew members aboard. The
1,080 foot-long vessel was carrying 2,000,000
barrels of crude oil valued at $100 million. This
is the farthest Somali pirates have traveled to
hijack a ship, and is far south of the "Maritime
Security Patrol Area" patrolled by international
warships in the Gulf of Aden.
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Nov. 14, 2008
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China
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The Chinese fishing vessel Tianyu No. 8 or Tanyo
8 was seized by Somali pirates while fishing off
the coast of Kenya.
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Nov. 14, 2008
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Unknown
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The British private security service Anti-Piracy
Maritime Security Solutions claimed to have
repulsed an attack on an unidentified chemical
tanker using water hoses and a magneto-acoustic
device.
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November 12, 2008
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Turkey
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The Turkish ship Karagol owned by the
Istanbul-based Turkish shipping company YDC
Denizcilik A.S, was hijacked off the coast of Yemen
with 14 crew members aboard. Notably the second
Turkish vessel to be hijacked in a matter of two
weeks, the ship is reported to be carrying 4,500
tons of unspecified chemicals, en route to Mumbai,
Kenya.
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November 11, 2008
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Denmark
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The MV Powerful, a Danish-registered cargo ship,
was attacked by pirates onboard a dhow. Russia has
claimed that the pirates tried twice to seize the
vessel, but they were rebuffed by Russian and
British helicopters, though Russian involvement has
been disputed by the Royal Navy. The dhow was later
detected by HMS Cumberland, and its unit of Royal
Marines was dispatched in rigid-raider craft to try
and stop the dhow. Whilst circling the dhow, the
Marines were fired upon by the pirates. The Marines
returned fire, killing two pirates, and forcing the
remaining crew to surrender. The dhow was then
boarded and captured by the Marines. A Yemeni male
was found onboard, and he later died from his
injuries; the British Ministry of Defense reported
that it was unsure whether the injuries were caused
during the gunfight, or beforehand.
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Nov. 11, 2008
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India
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MV Jag Arnav, 38,265-ton bulk carrier owned by
Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company, raised
an alarm when pirates tried to board the ship.
Indian Navy's INS Tabar, which about 25 nautical
miles away at the time of the distress call, rushed
a Chetak helicopter carrying a team of MARCOS to
the scene and successfully thwarted the hijack
attempt. The incident took place 60 nautical miles
from Aden. The Indian Navy also foiled an attempt
by pirates to a board MV Timaha, a Saudi Arabia
registered cargo ship.
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November 7, 2008
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Denmark
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The Danish-owned, Bahamas-registered ship MV CEC
Future carrying unknown cargo was seized with 13
crew members, consisting of 11 Russians, 1
Georgian, and 1 Lithuanian.
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October 29, 2008
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Turkey
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The Turkish ship MV Yasa Neslihan was hijacked.
The vessel with a crew of 20 was carrying iron ore
from Canada to China. The ship's owning company,
Yasa Holding, was alerted by an onboard alarm
system. Turkish authorities are seeking help to
rescue the ship, but there has been no contact made
with the pirates.
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Links and
Sources:
French
warship team destroys pirate
boats--CNN, March 5,
2010
Islamists
go after pirates who took Saudi ship: Criticize theft
from Muslims--Washington
Times, Nov. 22, 2008
Pirates
bolster defences around hijacked
tanker --Times Online, Nov.
21, 2008
To
turn the tide on piracy in Somalia, bring justice to its
fisheries--Nov. 20,
2008
Indian
navy sinks suspected pirate "mother"
ship--Associated Press, Nov.
19, 2008
Somali
pirates transform villages into
boomtowns--Associated Press,
Nov. 19, 2008
U.S.
Urges Merchant Ships to Try Steps to Foil
Pirates--NY Times, Nov. 19,
2008
Japan
May Use Navy to Protect Ships Off Somalia, Nikkei
Says--Bloomberg.com, Nov. 19,
2008
Saudi
Supertanker Hijacked By Somali
Pirates--NPR, Nov. 18,
2008
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Marketing You Can Trust 
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Related
Conflicts
PREDECESSOR:
(Related conflicts and events that occurred
before)
Somali Civil War
(1990-Present)
CONCURRENT:
(Related conflicts occurring at the same
time)
Ethiopian
Intervention in Somalia
(2006-Present)
Djibouti-Eritrea
Border
War
(June,
2008)
Somali
Pirate Attacks
(2006-Present)
U.S.
Operations Against al-Qaida in
Somalia
(2006-Present)
SUCCESSOR:
(Related conflicts that occur later)
None
yet
See
also: Wars
of the Horn of Africa
Read
the History Guy Weblog and the
War
and Conflict Journal--New
Iran
War Scenario for April,
2008-posted April 9,
2008
Pakistan's
Violent Political History Continues With
Bhutto's
Assassination--posted
Dec. 27, 2007
Casualties
in the Somali
War--posted Dec. 2,
2007
Musharraf's
Martial Law Endangers the War on
Terror--posted on
Nov. 4, 2007
Biography:
Pervez
Musharraf--posted on
Nov.4, 2007
Kurds
At War: Turkey, Iraq, and
Iran--posted on
October 22, 2007
Stormfront:
The Consequences of September 11 and America's
Wars Around the
World--posted on
Sept. 11, 2007
The
Calm Before The Storm: The World of September
10, 2001--posted on
Sept. 10, 2007
Mid-East
War Fears: Israel Versus Syria
Again?--posted on
Aug. 14, 2007
France
at War: French Victories and
Defeats--posted May
11, 2007
America
and France: A Long Relationship Spanning War and
Peace--posted May 10,
2007
Cinco
de Mayo, 1862: The Battle Of
Puebla --posted May
5, 2007
The
Long War on Terror: What is in a War's
Name?--posted May 3,
2007
Turkey:
To Coup, or not to Coup, that, is the
question!--posted May
2, 2007
Canada's
Afghan War--posted
April 29, 2007.
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New
and Recent Conflicts of the
World
|
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Wars
and Conflicts of Burma/Myanmar
--The Wars and Conflicts
of Burma/Myanmar from the Anglo-Burmese Wars to the
pro-democracy Myanmar uprising of 2007.
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Wars
and Conflicts of Yemen
(1914-Present)--NEW
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Djibouti-Eritrea
Border War (June, 2008)
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Wars
of Iran and
Persia--Lists the wars
and conflicts of Persia and Iran from the 18th
Century to the present.
|
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The
2007 Pro-Democracy Uprising in
Myanmar--The
current uprising in Myanmar.
|
|
North
Lebanon Conflict
(2007)--Fighting between
the Lebanese government and a Jihadist Palestinian
militia calling itself Fatah al-Islam.
|
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bin
Laden's Declaration of War Against the United
States-- Long before
9/11, Osama bin Laden declared his hatred and his
intent to harm America.
|
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Current
Wars of the World--A
listing of current wars and conflicts around the
world.
|
|
Military
Coups in Turkey-A
listing of military coups in modern Turkey
(1960-1997).
|
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Comparing
America's Wars Duration in
Months-A look at
America's wars and comparing their length in
months.
|
|
War
in Afghanistan--Details
on the origins of this ongoing war; part of the War
on Terror
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|
Ethiopia-Somalia
War of 2006*New*--A
brief description of the Ethiopia-Somalia War which
began in 2006, and is a part of the larger Somali
Civil War.
|
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Ethiopia-Somali
Wars and Conflicts*New*--Listing
the wars and conflicts between Ethiopia and
Somalia
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Wars
of Germany--The
wars and conflicts of Germany from the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 to the War in
Afghanistan.
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Iraq
War: Links and
Resources*New*--Links
and resources on the Iraq War.
|
|
Iraq
War: Prisoner Abuse and Abu Ghraib Links and
Resources*New*--Links
and resources on the Iraq War's biggest
scandal.
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|
Iraq
War: Battles and
Campaigns*New*--Links
and resources on Iraq War battles and military
operations.
|
|
Israel-Lebanon/Hezbollah
War of
2006--*New*--Details
and analysis on the warfare along the Lebanese
border which began in July, 2006!
|
|
Israel-Lebanon
Conflict--*New*--Background
information on the decades-long warfare and
conflict along the Israel/Lebanon
border.
|
|
Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict--*New*--Background
information on the long-running warfare between
Israel and the Palestinians!
|
|
Israeli-Palestinian
Battles and
Campaigns--*New*--Specific
information on the warfare raids, battles,
terrorist attacks, and retaliations between Israel
and the Palestinians!
|
|
Waziristan
War----The
War on Terror expands to Pakistan's Northwest
Frontier!
|
|
Hamas----The
terrorist/resistance group now ruling the
Palestinian Authority!
|
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War
in the Western
Sahara--
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Iraq
War
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Afghan
War
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Nepal
Civil War
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Wars
of 2006--*--Wars
and conflicts of 2006!
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Source:
AFP
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