Somali Pirates - not the brightest bunch - jailed

[TykeMerc]

The Russians had the right idea.

I wonder what happened to the bunch that attempted to hijack that Russian ship.

Glug... glug... glug...

No shortage of nice heavy objects on a ship and sailors tend (even these days) to be able to tie knots.

[TykeMerc]

That's what the M16s are for.

Plus the ship full of military trained crew would present a challenge to a couple of lads trying to intimidate the small crew of a modern merchant vessel.

[northernladuk]

1 x OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun
2 x Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes
1 x Vulcan Phalanx CIWS;
4 x .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns.
1x Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine)

Oddly most of those are pretty useless against a skiff 30 feet off the side of the boat

[SupremeSpod]

I bet they're glad they weren't tried in a Sharia court...

[minestrone]

They got a million from capturing a daft, stupid English couple.

I think we are not the brightest for paying up.

[CheeseSlice]

Apparently this attack happened in April, but I didn't see it in the news.

Somali pirates convicted of attacking US Navy ship

Five young Somali men face life in prison after being convicted of piracy in the April attack on a US Navy ship.

Prosecutors said the men attacked the USS Nicholas after mistaking it for a merchant ship and were out for as much as $40,000 (£24,800) in ransom money.

The crew of five young defendants, mostly fishermen in their mid-20s, had set sail from Somalia in March in search of a merchant vessel to plunder, according to documents filed in the federal court.

Their ship carried food and fuel and had two smaller skiffs tied to it, which prosecutors say were to serve as attack craft. The men were armed with assault weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade, prosecutors said.

One of the defendants, Mohammed Mohdin Hassan, told investigators he had been promised $30,000 (£18,552) for a successful mission, according to court documents.

About eight days later, on the high seas and under cover of night, Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali and Abdi Wali Dire boarded one of the attack craft and set out to attack what they believed was a merchant ship, prosecutors said.

In fact, the ship was the Nicholas, which had been deployed to the east coast of Africa on an anti-piracy mission.

Hasan and Dire brought the attack skiff close to the Nicholas and opened fire, prosecutors said. The Nicholas returned fire and gave chase, capturing the defendants and taking them aboard the ship and destroying their skiff.

Hilarious

I guess they didn't notice the weapons this thing was fitted with:

(from Wikipedia)
1 x OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun
2 x Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes
1 x Vulcan Phalanx CIWS;
4 x .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns.
1x Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine)