Luke McPartlin (left), a third-year cadet, and Tim Nease, a vessel security training officer for the State of Maine's two-month training voyage, walk along the dock in Palermo in this 2007 file photo, looking for potential dangers to the ship which had just docked. Buy Photo
CASTINE, Maine — When fishing boats came too close to Maine Maritime Academy Midshipman Tom Byrne’s container ship in the Gulf of Aden last year, he felt uneasy.
When Capt. Larry Wade of Bradley steered oil tankers through places such as the Strait of Malacca at night during his long career, he lit them up and steamed ahead at full speed to safer waters.
And when Capt. Ira Conn of Bar Harbor heard his wife yell out one night in 2000 off the island of St. Vincent in the Grenadines, he raced to the deck to discover they’d been boarded — by a pirate.
For these men and many others who are concerned with the sea, piracy is very real.
“It’s been a huge issue for everybody,” Wade, who teaches an MMA class in ship’s business, said recently. “We have about 60 percent of the [MMA] student population who will be licensed mariners, sailing in ships everywhere, sailing tugboats to barges up to big supertankers ... They’re off of Nigeria, off of Brazil, off the South China Sea. All of those people are licensed. And all of those would have to worry about piracy.”
Pirates off Somalia
Pirates have been a staple of the news lately, with pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia surging more than 75 percent this year. The Somali pirates are stepping up their increasingly brazen attacks and even sharing their views with the world through pirate spokesmen. The Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter carrying tanks and other heavy weapons in late September, a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil on Nov. 15, and a chemical tanker on Friday, among dozens of other hijackings.
Somalia is an impoverished nation in the Horn of Africa that hasn’t had a functioning government since 1991. Off its coastline is the Gulf of Aden, an international shipping lane that helps connect the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. Piracy there is considered the country’s biggest moneymaker, bringing in up to $30 million in ransom so far this year, according to a London think tank.
That’s why it’s even more important than usual for Wade to teach his merchant marine students how to keep safe on the high seas.
“We teach our students a lot about piracy. We teach them a lot about ship security. We teach them a lot about terror attacks,” Wade said.
Issues of piracy are very real for his students, who have been researching how to resolve particular hijackings while still being sensitive to the codes of the United Nations.
“Shipping companies are having to take different routes now by going around Africa,” said Midshipman Alex Farrell of Bath, who was a cadet on a Military Sealift Command vessel last summer. “As a kid, I always thought of old-school pirates. Now I think about poverty.”
“I think ‘no government,’” said Byrne, of Savannah, Ga. Last year in the Gulf of Aden, “sometimes there’d be fishing boats just drifting out there, and you never knew. You’d get this uneasy feeling about these people coming close to the vessel.”
One thing that Wade teaches his students is that pirates were directly responsible for the formation of the U.S. Navy back in 1794. Pirates from the Barbary Coast off northern Africa were plaguing the new nation’s shipping, and Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 to protect against them.
Conn, who captains private yachts in the Caribbean and New England, said the Virgin Islands were a longtime pirate haven during the Age of Sail.
“Piracy is somebody being opportunistic, because a boat is undefended. It happens all over the place every winter where somebody goes on the boat with a knife or cutlass,” he said. “It is, I guess, piracy. But if it happened in a house, it would just be armed burglary.”
Conn gets irritated with the popular image of pirates, and won’t let his two young daughters take part in any kind of glamorization.
“No pirate tattoos for the kids,” he said. “They can have swords and cannons, but it has to be the good guys.”
He can’t forget that night in 2000 when his wife surprised a 6-foot 4-inch man on board the yacht. The man had paddled out to the boat on a windsurf board and spent nearly an hour stealing food and shoes and snorkeling gear while most aboard slept.
“My wife says, ‘Don’t call him a pirate. He’s just a thief,’” Conn said. The thief jumped overboard when discovered.
Guarding against attacks
One problem with protecting vessels from pirates is that, most of the time, the pirates will be armed more heavily than the ship — especially if the ship is nonmilitary.
Wade tells his students about alternative ways to protect ships, including lighting up the ship, traveling very quickly and running water from fire hydrants and hoses on deck to discourage would-be attackers.
“I’ve known ships that put plywood and cardboard cutouts of people all over the deck,” he said. “If pirates think there’s a lot of people watching them, they’re going to take the easy ship instead.”
Wade is also hopeful about a new generation of nonlethal weapons, including the Long Range Acoustic Devices made by American Technology Corp. The devices are a “very loud, very directional speaker system,” said Scott Stuckey of Bowdoinham, vice president of sales.
The cruise ship Seabourn Spirit used the device to help deter a 2005 pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, and Stuckey said the company has been “inundated” with interest lately in the wake of recent pirate attacks.
“We’re saving lives,” he said.
Such advances in the battle to take back shipping lanes from pirates can’t come quickly enough for the MMA midshipmen, who are going to be charting their own course on the high seas after graduation.
On 12/2/08 at 7:08 AM,
Cheeky wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
GO PIRATES!!
On 12/2/08 at 7:10 AM,
Cheeky wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
all the technology and vigilance in the world in the 21st century, and a few motivated men who weigh 120lbs and have some antiquated weapons can still make a difference in the world. Lesson = don't underestimate people.
On 12/2/08 at 7:48 AM,
RealCherry wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
What has Johnny Depp done?
On 12/2/08 at 7:54 AM,
anne_of_mdi wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Oh now, if you're going to start talking about Johnny Depp, I'm in!
On 12/2/08 at 8:36 AM,
mainbad wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
In the periods before "politically correct" international policy established by the UN and other stupid forums seeking tongue and cheek solutions to problems on international waters, particularly before WW II, it was customary for merchant vessels to be equipped with small arms (in an armory or locker) and for the crews to be trained in defense of the ship from pirates or mutiny. Today, with some of the crews being of questionable character since some shipping lines choose to not pay very well, and the attitude that there has to be some UN sanctioned authority interveinn with these tugs, has basically allowed these pirates to get away with their acts. There needs to be a program that allows crews to double as "Marines" so to speak in defense of their vessel on the high seas.
On 12/2/08 at 8:42 AM,
pcme2000 wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
How about some high powered weapons on this ships and just shoot to kill the pirates. Kill a few and see what happens. If that doesn't work get higher powered weapons and shoot.
On 12/2/08 at 8:48 AM,
SteveyDee wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Johnny poo has moved to another country because he is too good for the USA.
On 12/2/08 at 9:31 AM,
RogerNamVet wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
What about the Pittsburgh Pirates? LOL
On a more serious note, Cheeky has a very good point. It only took ten guys with small arms to devastate Mumbai recently, keeping the city hostage for 60 hours, killing 200 people, and 19 people to destroy part of lower Manhattan and kill 4,000 people.
On 12/2/08 at 9:37 AM,
jaguarsky wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Poverty is not the motivation for piracy; greed is. If poverty was the true motivation, then all of the money these criminals have stolen would be making some kind of difference in Somalia. Nothing has changed there. So where is the money. It is in the same place that aid money and distributions ended up, in the pockets of local warlords. But "poverty" makes a much better sound bite.
On 12/2/08 at 10:12 AM,
bgcarl01 wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Heck, if even the ships had as many weapons onboard as a Maine SUV during hunting season, they'd stand a chance! Maybe they should hang some rifles in the back windows of the boats.........
On 12/2/08 at 10:45 AM,
mariahstorm wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
self defense training goes with the program.guns aboard ships that may be attacked is self preservation.... Marines? Nah, i don't think so. Enough malitia in this country.
On 12/2/08 at 11:49 AM,
Shalise40 wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
In response to jaguarsky:
I read an article a few weeks ago when the pirates had a "spokesman" talking to the press about whats been going on in Somalia and the Gulf. It described how a significant amount of the 30 milion raised in ransom has filtered directly into the northern communities of Somalia where the pirates hang out and keep their stolen ships. Obviously its not significant enough to truely elevate or change the country, but given that the north is even more lawless than the southern part over which the "government" has sparse influence, it is important to note that innocent citizens, while technically they are aiding in international crimes, the benefit to their lives and their kids' lives from actually having money spent in their neck of the woods is a small light in a very dark area of the world.
On 12/2/08 at 12:25 PM,
WRofGlenburn wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
The U.N. continues to do an exemplary job protecting worldwide shipping and maritime commerce. With its team of outstanding bureaucrats, the U.N. is prepared to enforce the law of the seas and ensure that all countries enjoy the benefit of security afforded them by its well trained naval forces. At the present time, diplomacy is proceeding at a hectic pace with hundreds of highly placed and well payed international negotiators working to convince the underprivileged of Somalia to seek other means of employment (perhaps through one of the many U.N. sponsored give-away programs). If initial talks should fail to convince these 21st century pirates to lay down their arms, then you can be assured that the U.N. will promptly (within six-months) issue a stern admonition and maybe even a warning that those failing to heed the advice of this august body representing world authority, may possibly face....sanctions.
If this doesn't do the job, I suggest a five inch gun and hand-held missile launchers!
On 12/2/08 at 12:39 PM,
JWBooth wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Any truth to the rumor that the Eastport Pirate Festival is moving to Lewiston to make the immigrants feel more at home?
On 12/2/08 at 1:08 PM,
averagejoe wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Lacking good taste John Wilkes...
On 12/7/08 at 5:03 AM,
BRabey wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Somalian pirates? Are you serious? Somalian's attacking HUGH SHIPS in small boats and being successful only says one thing. Members of the crews of these ships where in on it all. Otherwise these Somalian's would have easily been blown out of the water! It's a well known fact that the Somalian's only have small arms...........so what's the problem here?
On 12/7/08 at 5:04 AM,
BRabey wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Somalian pirates? Are you serious? Somalian's attacking HUGH SHIPS in small boats and being successful only says one thing. Members of the crews of these ships where in on it all. Otherwise these Somalian's would have easily been blown out of the water! It's a well known fact that the Somalian's only have small arms...........so what's the problem here?
On 12/7/08 at 5:04 AM,
BRabey wrote:
Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
Somalian pirates? Are you serious? Somalian's attacking HUGH SHIPS in small boats and being successful only says one thing. Members of the crews of these ships where in on it all. Otherwise these Somalian's would have easily been blown out of the water! It's a well known fact that the Somalian's only have small arms...........so what's the problem here?
Post a comment about this story
You must be logged in to post a comment.
click here to log in.
