Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
NBC
February 11, 2009
NBC Nightly News, 7:00 PM
JIM WILLIAMS: We’re back with tonight’s “In Depth” report. Few people could have predicted piracy would be a big issue in the 21st century. But as we’ve reported here, pirates off the coast of Africa have become a big enough threat the U.S. Navy is now on the hunt for them. You might also be surprised by who’s helping out in the effort.
Our Pentagon correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski, reports from the frontlines in the waters off Somalia.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI: Adm. Terry McKnight may have the toughest job in the Navy – hunting pirates in the Gulf of Aden – and he’s the first to admit it.
ADM. TERRY MCKNIGHT: It’s extremely hard because we’re out here in 1.1 million square miles of water and the skiffs are very small.
MIKLASZEWSKI: But they have a huge impact. Last year, Somali pirates staged 120 attacks on cargo ships and hijacked 41, raking in a record $20 million in ransom. As part of a new strategy to counter the pirates, 20 warships from 14 countries now patrol the gulf. And for self-protection, most cargo ships steam at a higher speed and travel in convoys.
Today, for the first time, that strategy paid off. The Navy crew aboard the Vella Gulf captured seven pirates after a failed attempt to hijack a cargo ship. A Navy team like this one boarded the pirates’ skiff and took the seven into custody without a fight.
Adm. McKnight told NBC News the skiff was loaded with weapons.
MCKNIGHT: We found some RPGs and pistols and AK-47s.
MIKLASZEWSKI: The pirates will now be held in this makeshift holding pen aboard ship before being sent to Kenya for prosecution.
MCKNIGHT: Picture perfect. It was safe and I think everybody was just a good operation and everything just fell into place for us.
MIKLASZEWSKI: It’s the second time this week the Vella Gulf chased suspected pirates. The first time while McKnight was on the radio with a nearby Russian destroyer when suddenly the radio crackled with a distress call.
DISRESS CALL:... looks like that pirate boat.
MIKLASZEWSKI: The captain of a Panamanian cargo ship feared he was under attack. The crew of the Navy’s Vella Gulf sprung into action.
CAPT. MARK GENUNG: Give me a bearing to that ship, radar bearing.
MIKLASZEWSKI: Within minutes, Capt. Mark Genung turned to a most unlikely ally.
GENUNG: Okay, you stay on 16, talk to my shipmate. Talk to him. I’m going to try to talk to the Russians.
MIKLASZEWSKI: Without hesitation, the Russians responded.
RUSSIAN NAVY RADIOMAN: We can radio the helicopter to do a flyby and observe the suspicious boats.
MIKLASZEWSKI: In close coordination with the Americans, the Russians were first over the suspected pirates, who it turns out were innocent fishermen. But the remarkable nature of this joint military operation was not lost on the two commanders and their crews.
Navy commanders admit they’ll never be able to entirely rid these seas of pirates. But what they can do is try to make it harder for them to operate. That’s certainly the case for the seven pirates captured today.
Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News, the Gulf of Aden.
February 11, 2009
NBC Nightly News, 7:00 PM
JIM WILLIAMS: We’re back with tonight’s “In Depth” report. Few people could have predicted piracy would be a big issue in the 21st century. But as we’ve reported here, pirates off the coast of Africa have become a big enough threat the U.S. Navy is now on the hunt for them. You might also be surprised by who’s helping out in the effort.
Our Pentagon correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski, reports from the frontlines in the waters off Somalia.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI: Adm. Terry McKnight may have the toughest job in the Navy – hunting pirates in the Gulf of Aden – and he’s the first to admit it.
ADM. TERRY MCKNIGHT: It’s extremely hard because we’re out here in 1.1 million square miles of water and the skiffs are very small.
MIKLASZEWSKI: But they have a huge impact. Last year, Somali pirates staged 120 attacks on cargo ships and hijacked 41, raking in a record $20 million in ransom. As part of a new strategy to counter the pirates, 20 warships from 14 countries now patrol the gulf. And for self-protection, most cargo ships steam at a higher speed and travel in convoys.
Today, for the first time, that strategy paid off. The Navy crew aboard the Vella Gulf captured seven pirates after a failed attempt to hijack a cargo ship. A Navy team like this one boarded the pirates’ skiff and took the seven into custody without a fight.
Adm. McKnight told NBC News the skiff was loaded with weapons.
MCKNIGHT: We found some RPGs and pistols and AK-47s.
MIKLASZEWSKI: The pirates will now be held in this makeshift holding pen aboard ship before being sent to Kenya for prosecution.
MCKNIGHT: Picture perfect. It was safe and I think everybody was just a good operation and everything just fell into place for us.
MIKLASZEWSKI: It’s the second time this week the Vella Gulf chased suspected pirates. The first time while McKnight was on the radio with a nearby Russian destroyer when suddenly the radio crackled with a distress call.
DISRESS CALL:... looks like that pirate boat.
MIKLASZEWSKI: The captain of a Panamanian cargo ship feared he was under attack. The crew of the Navy’s Vella Gulf sprung into action.
CAPT. MARK GENUNG: Give me a bearing to that ship, radar bearing.
MIKLASZEWSKI: Within minutes, Capt. Mark Genung turned to a most unlikely ally.
GENUNG: Okay, you stay on 16, talk to my shipmate. Talk to him. I’m going to try to talk to the Russians.
MIKLASZEWSKI: Without hesitation, the Russians responded.
RUSSIAN NAVY RADIOMAN: We can radio the helicopter to do a flyby and observe the suspicious boats.
MIKLASZEWSKI: In close coordination with the Americans, the Russians were first over the suspected pirates, who it turns out were innocent fishermen. But the remarkable nature of this joint military operation was not lost on the two commanders and their crews.
Navy commanders admit they’ll never be able to entirely rid these seas of pirates. But what they can do is try to make it harder for them to operate. That’s certainly the case for the seven pirates captured today.
Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News, the Gulf of Aden.