Breaking: Indian Navy Boarding Suspicious Ship Off Mumbai

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Indian navy boarding suspicious ship off Mumbai

MUMBAI, India – The Indian navy says its forces are boarding a cargo vessel suspected of ties to the Mumbai attacks that killed 101 people.

Navy spokesman Capt. Manohar Nambiar said Thursday that the ship, the MV Alpha, had recently come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan.

Nambiar says the navy has "located the ship and now we are in the process of boarding it and searching it." He gave no other details on the ship.

More than 100 people were killed and 300 injured when suspected Islamic militants attacked 10 sites in Mumbai.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081127/ap_on_re_as/as_india_shooting

[dipsydoodle]

1. Well - the last ship

which they described as a "pirate ship" and which they blew up turned out to be a Thai fishing boat. I have little faith in the Indian navy as a result.

It seems most likely at present that the perpetrators are infact locals, totally pissed off at the treatment of Muslims by the local Hindu police and as such wouldn't have needed a boat.

[PaulaFarrell]

2. if so, why did they appear to target foreigners?

and in one case at least, seem to target US and UK citizens?

[dipsydoodle]

5. It may have been

just the passports they wanted. On sheer probability there would have more UK citizens there and may not necessarily have been terror associated. Apart from that the news coming out is spurious and in some cases contradictary. It was not helped last night when CNN interviewed apparent eye witnesses who it turned out were repeating simply what they had been told by friends in the USA which those friends had seen on TV - CNN picked up on that themselves when they realised they being told things that someone locked in hotel room could not possibly have known.

[smitra]

16. Oh yes, they will just take their passports and let them go...

They are locals, and want those passports so they can travel to the US and UK without waiting in line at the respective consulates for a visa....:sarcasm:

The fact that they attacked Nariman House, which houses a Jewish rabbi and his family ... did they want an Israeli passport? While there have been Hindu-Muslim issues in Mumbai (and indeed, the whole of India) the Jewish community in Mumbai, which was once around 25,000 has probably dwindled to a few thousand at best (probably lower) after migration to Israel. Hardly enough to run a few (very beautiful) synagogues, let alone be a threat to anybody...

[dipsydoodle]

17. You've overlooked the fact

they could easily sell the UK passports to provide funding.

The attack on the Jewish household is a different matter which although encompassed by yesterday's events may have different motives.

[smitra]

20. Certainly....

A group that has carried out a sophisticated operation, with AK-47s, grenades and other explosives, is looking for the few thousand dollars they will get by selling the about 10 UK and US passports they will get from the people they are holding in the hotel's elevator.

And also, if these people don't have their passports on them at the moment of capture, they will be escorted to their rooms so they can retrieve their passports. Or possibly they will take them all over the hotel looking for the hotel manager in whose safe they may have kept their passports!

Because, you see, this is a group that has had to hold numerous bake sales to get their AK-47s and grenades....:sarcasm:

As post #13 says, some people do enjoy a lot of salt water with their kool-aid.

[nebenaube]

23. What?

This is not 1948, the passports would be flagged as invalid. The moment they were presented at the port of entry, the holder would be arrested and interrogated if not shot on the spot as a terrorist. I call bullshit on this line of speculation.

[Nihil]

3. Oh, it wasn't flying the Jolly Roger?

Damn inconsiderate to have gone back into disguise.

(Thai pirates have used fishing boats for cover in the past and this
also matches the "Somali fishermen/pirates" pattern previously admitted.
The question in my mind is whether or not the fishermen/pirates opened
fire on the Indian Navy or not: if so then it's fair to call them pirates,
if not then it's fair to call the Indian Navy murderers. Little of which
has relevance to the main story but just responding to your point.)

[ohio2007]

13. and they were all dressed in burqa's so how many women did the Indians really kill ?

:sarcasm:

many enjoy salt water in their kool-aid.

[uppityperson]

21. I don't think Thais wear burqas.

kick for updates.

[smitra]

4. A Thai fishing boat that had been hijacked by pirates and fired upon the Indian Navy ship first

Read details here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7749486.stm

[dipsydoodle]

6. I'm well aware of that

but it don't change the fact the Indian navy sunk it and when found alive one of the Thai crew had been in the water for 3 days or so. The least the Indian navy could've done was look for survivors.

[smitra]

7. How would they know to do that?

Why would they do that? They did not immediately know it was a Thai fishing boat, and that news did not surface till days later. The attack and counter-attack took place at night. See how the BBC news article also mentions the lack of communication between the various navies patrolling those waters.

[dipsydoodle]

8. It is custom and practice

to the best of my knowledge for all navies to search for survivors when ships are sunk at see regardless of reason.

[smitra]

10. And how do you know they did NOT do that?

They may well have done, and not found this one Cambodian seaman. The earliest news reports indicated that their post-attack monitoring efforts revealed that some of the pirates escaped in speedboats.

[pampango]

12. I heard on the BBC last week that the US, French and British navies had been

told not to take any of the Somali pirates as prisoners, because no one knows what to do with them. You can't return them to Somalia as it is a failed state and the pirates would be out on the water again in no time. You don't want to take them back to your country and no other country wants them.

I don't know if this has played a role in making those navies reluctant to engage the pirates. It is common practice to look for survivors after a naval engagement, but if you're under orders not to do so, do you refrain from engaging? And I have no idea what rules the Indian navy operates under.

[ohio2007]

18. Actually, if they are taken prisoner, British law recognizes their rights so off to

merry old England go they ! Free pass on the British Sterling.

It is not their mission to hunt pirates.
This is why the western navies basically do nothing against pirates as the sea lanes still remain open dispite the commerce interdictions.

[ohio2007]

15. When somebody in Thailand reported their boat was missing.....

the CYA spin machine starts the knee jerk reactions.

Nobody seems to follow the news in Thailand lately ?
I wonder when the fishing boat owners life will come under the microscope for scrutiny ? A middle man trading 'fishing supplies' .

Oh,
that doesn't need to be looked into let alone reported to the world. Invasion of privacy and all.


The point is you can't fight piracy so why bother to do anything ?
Look what happened to India yesterday for taking a stand ?
( trying to stir the tin foil pot )

[ohio2007]

11. How do you know the pirates didn't force the crew to "walk the plank" a day earlier.

I saw an article that a guy was bobbing around for SIX days before being pulled out...your quote of 3 days in the water doesn't "hold water.

In the meantime, the policy of "appease them with ransom" is the best way to "fight" pirates :eyes:

'Exploding ammunition'

Indian navy spokesman, Commander Nirad Sinha, told AFP news agency: "The vessel was similar in description to what was mentioned in various piracy bulletins.

"The Indian navy ship asked them to stop for investigation. On repeated calls, the vessel responded by saying it would blow up the Indian ship," he said
snip
Commander Sinha insisted that the INS Tabar only opened fire after being fired upon, and that "exploding ammunition was also seen" on the target.



Mr Wicharn said the boat had been headed from Oman to Yemen to deliver fishing equipment when it was approached by the pirates in two speedboats.

snip
The survivor said all the crew were tied up except the captain and translator.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7749486.stm

"The survivor said all the crew were tied up except the captain and translator."

?

How did the Indian navy board the ship and tie up the crew if.....

oh
never mind. Nobody wants to hear everything the survivor has to say.

Lets all pony up a pirate tax so they will prosper
:sarcasm:
Is this what happens when you
"teach a man to fish"..........



http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/13/newsid_2502000/2502735.stm

just saying,
no dots to connect there eh?

[ohio2007]

9. What, they have no fish around Thailand? something fishy about that story

'Exploding ammunition'

Indian navy spokesman, Commander Nirad Sinha, told AFP news agency: "The vessel was similar in description to what was mentioned in various piracy bulletins. "The Indian navy ship asked them to stop for investigation. On repeated calls, the vessel responded by saying it would blow up the Indian ship," he said.


We hope that this incident won't affect the anti-piracy operation by the multi-coalition navies

"Pirates were seen roaming on the deck with rocket-propelled grenade launchers."

snip
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7749486.stm

Those are some bad ass fish they hunt using rpg's.

They should have stayed where it is safe to fish ....like Thailand ;)

[Ian David]

14. The tech support guy on the phone assured them that this was a pirate ship. n/t

[ohio2007]

19. lol, at least he took your call. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. That ship cleared; another is now suspected to have been hijacked for this

A trawler, MV Alpha, was searched but its crew weren’t detained as the navy found its papers in order.

But Vinod Masani, the owner of fishing trawler MV Kuber, found off Mumbai today after having left Porbandar on November 13, is being questioned.

The vessel was apparently carrying the body of one of its five crew members. The other four are missing.

Gujarat police feel that Mesani’s boat was hijacked. The boat, which had gone out for fishing 10 days ago, should have returned four days ago. The coast guard today found the boat five nautical miles from Mumbai.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081128/jsp/nation/story_10176731.jsp