Su,Richard31

Somali Pirates Free Chinese Ship- By:Generalissimo of all Armed Forces Richard Su 1st Tiger Marine Amphibious Intellegence Regiment 642nd Dragonknight Special Armed Forces Division/Task Force 936 (Stealth Squads) 1st and 22nd SAS Special Forces Recon Army/Task Force 628 (Firestorm Squads) 2nd and 75th Army Rangers Special Ops Recon Army/Task Force 246 (Gryphon Squads) 3rd, 7th and 10th Green Berets Special Ops Army/ Task Force 156 (Predator Squads) 4th, 8th and 11th Delta Force Special Ops Army/Task Forces 716 (Eagle Squads) 5th and 10th Navy SEALS Teams/ Task Forces 2316 and 6015 (Tactical Squads) 6th and 12th Marines Raiders Security Force Army/ Task Forces 001 and 007 (Honor Squads) 9th,14th,15th and 16th Spetsnaz Recon Teams/Task Forces 6,24,15,and 60 (Dragoon Squads) Summary- Somali Pirates on board a Chinese ship have received a ransom of about 3.5-4.0 million dollars to let go the ship. The ship, De Xin Hai, was carrying 76,000 tons of coal en route to India. There were 25 people on board the Chinese ship when it was freed by the Pirates. Also, the De Xin Hai was hijacked around October of '09 about 550 nautical miles from the Somalian coastline. The //De Xin Hai// was the first Chinese vessel to be hijacked since China deployed a three-ship squadron to the Gulf of Aden last year, joining Britain, India, Iran, the US, France and other countries in anti-piracy patrols. (AJ) The ransom was dropped on to the ship via Helicopter and within a few hours, the pirates left the ship. The 324 hijacking attempts worldwide up to October 20 this year, point to a dramatic rise from the same period in 2008, with 194 attacks. (PT) And Al Jazeera reports that the number of hijackings has doubled from '08 to '09. Of the total annual attacks in 2009 and 2008 respectively, 37 and 36 were successful according to the latest figures from the ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB). (PT) The limits faced by the naval mission also renders is impossible to hold any suspected pirates caught at sea without proof. The pirates in turn take advantage of the situation, dumping any weapons or proof as soon as a warship is sighted. (PT) As of right now the Pirates hold about 10 ships and more than 200 crew members for ransom. Sources- []-Press TV []-Al Jazeera Similar-The articles agree on the name of the coal-carrying ship which is De Xin Hai. They also agree on that pirate hijackings are up from last year and the year before that. And, they also agree that there were 25 people on board the ship. Last, they agree that the ship was carrying 76000 tons of coal. Difference-The ransoms were different in which PT says that the ransom is 3.5 million and AJ says its 4 million. Also, PT reports the ransom was being prepared to be paid an AJ says that it has been paid. Al Jazeera doesn't say anything about the location where it was hijacked. Also, Al Jazeera doesn't give any stats on the number of hijackings during '08 and '09. And, Al Jazeera says that the ransom was airdropped from a helicopter. Opinion-The Somali pirates must be stopped. They are going to great lengths to get as much money as they can. Yet in Somalia, they can't seem to do anything about it because for some reason, their government isn't functioning very well and must be restored to stop this piracy and "illegal" way of getting money.