Luxury Russian Cruise Hunts Somali Pirates

1. Geekazoid
   June 26th, 2009 at 1:38 am

   If in fact this is true, expect cries of racism from the world media in 5, 4, 3....

2. Skipweasel
   June 26th, 2009 at 2:23 am

   And anyway, now the word's out, I don't suppose the pirates will be so dim as to chance it.

3. gibson8or
   June 26th, 2009 at 2:27 am

   Something definitely needs to be done about the pirates, but doesn't this seem like they're basically allowing rich people to hunt down other humans for sport? The organizers figure that no one's going to care if they knock off a few pirates, and the Somali government's hardly in a position to intervene.

   This reminds me of those people who go on "big game hunts" where animals are tranquilized beforehand so that they can kill them easier. Only in this case the surety is provided by the ex special forces guys. How is this different than the Roman executing people as public sport?

4. Mytake
   June 26th, 2009 at 2:32 am

   Sounds like a thinly-veiled human safari to me, even if the prey are criminals who should be persecuted and arrested.

5. VonSkippy
   June 26th, 2009 at 2:54 am

   Oh boo hoo, lets all feel sorry for the poor misunderstood Somali Pirates. What's next with you bleeding hearts - gift baskets for the terrorist suicide bombers?

6. Mytake
   June 26th, 2009 at 3:39 am

   How about we arrest them instead of hunting them down for fun and profit? International waters vigilantism does not sound like a good idea to me.

7. gibson8or
   June 26th, 2009 at 3:40 am

   It's not only about the fate of the pirates, it's about what we as a (global, industrialized, etc.) society choose to endorse and condone as acceptable behavior. It's a matter of ethics.

   Hyperbolic trolls aside, I am interested in learning more about both sides of the issue.

8. Reechard
   June 26th, 2009 at 3:50 am

   Not real. Simple as that.

9. ikew
   June 26th, 2009 at 4:45 am

   Fake. Let it die.

10. Jev
    June 26th, 2009 at 6:24 am

    yep, its fake

    http://www.somalicruises.com/

11. christina
    June 26th, 2009 at 6:34 am

    Rich urban russia is the new raich.
    Alarming stories like this are surfacing from the neo-rich of this country..
    Not neat at all!

12. Foreigner1
    June 26th, 2009 at 7:31 am

    Mytake- "How about we arrest them instead of hunting them down for fun and profit?"

    Some time ago some of them were arrested to be put on trial and thrown in the slammer in a European facility. The reaction of those pirates was as if they had won the lottery- To them European jails seemed like top-luxury hotel accomodation with a good bed, good food, nice things to do and even some modest pay that to them was a fortune. I've never seen more happy customers when the judge spoke verdict...

    Agreed- Making a fun-exiting holiday trip out of hunting for pirates perhaps is a little raking back to those "Good" Old Days when rich folks went out hunting Injuns and Kaffers.

    ...But I also don't think that these guys are scared all that much by threatening them with Western style jailtime...

13. rb
    June 26th, 2009 at 7:56 am

    This hit the Web in early May as parody
    http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/05/somali-coast-cruise-package.h tml

14. earl
    June 26th, 2009 at 8:27 am

    Where do I sign up?

15. Mouserz
    June 26th, 2009 at 8:32 am

    haha this would be awesome.

16. Stane
    June 26th, 2009 at 8:40 am

    These new rich Russians are bigger pirates then anz Somali fisherman will ever be. Most of them are veterans of mob wars in Siberian oil towns.

17. KIT CLOUD
    June 26th, 2009 at 9:55 am

    http://www.somalicruises.com/

18. KIT CLOUD
    June 26th, 2009 at 9:57 am

    I have ad blocking software but a friend just told me that some ads might not be safe for work in that link.

19. Frau
    June 26th, 2009 at 10:24 am

    "International waters vigilantism does not sound like a good idea to me." - Mytake

    Being on a ship that is pirated does not sound all that fun to me either.

20. Vagabondo
    June 26th, 2009 at 10:57 am

    None of you know WHY or HOW they became "pirates".
    Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, "Hey, I think I'll risk my life committing crimes on a rickety boat 30 miles offshore!"
    Somalian waters were the world's dumping grounds after their government fell apart. Their waters were so polluted that the fishing industry was decimated.
    Initially, fishermen got in their boats to prevent ships from dumping toxic waste off their shores. When the ships ignored them, they were compelled to attempt to board in order to stop the illegal dumping. But the dumping continued and now the fishermen have turned into "pirates" by "fishing" their waters for ships.

21. horned_one24
    June 26th, 2009 at 11:33 am

    Hell yeah sign me up! This is exactly what pirating warrants, death. No hippie "hugs for everyone" bullshit.

    Shouldnt be ex-special forces guards though; only ninjas can handle this task.

22. elgato
    June 26th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    Hey! Wasn't this an episode on "Gilligan's Island"??? Think it was Rory Calhoun playing the big game hunter who pays to hunt Gilligan...

23. Christophe
    June 26th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    On a business point of view, I'm sure there is a market for that. And plenty other stupid ideas

24. Foreigner1
    June 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    Vagabondo I understand your point. But it still sounds a lot like that the criminal has to be forgiven because he had a bad youth and an even worse stepmother and so on. If you turn to crime for whatever noble or desperate reason thinkable- Expect to be at least halted and even as likely - punished somehow. And then don't blame anyone else but yourself, because it was you who made the choise to do crime. Same with these pirates - they still are pirates, whatever their reasons to go into that trade in the first place. And as pirates, they can be stopped with as far as I'm concerned whatever means that work.

25. Miss Cellania
    June 26th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    This is why I never use Ananova as a source.

26. tom miller
    June 27th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    sign me up im ready to exterminate those pirates a little more of an arsonal though

27. Sailor24
    June 29th, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    Vagabondo,
    You must be mentally retarded! These pirates are taking ships hostage and holding the crews hostage for millions in ransom to use as funding for weapons to fight both the somali gov't and to give to various terrorist organizations for their "jihad". Only a left wing nut job would make them out to be some kind of persecuted eco warrior. If this cruise were true, which i don't think it is, more power to them.

28. Somali Pirate
    June 30th, 2009 at 11:32 am

    Let them come, I can't wait them!

    I won't even use my AK47, I will use my machete to cut their(the Rich Rusian) head off!

    We (the Somali Pirates) haven’t killed any of our hostages so far but if this news is true , We will spill a lot of blood in the see and feed their headless bodies to our hungry sharks !

    Somali Pirate Spokes Man

29. Ruger
    July 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 am

    Everyone who thinks we should sit right down and talk to the pirates would sing a different tune if they had a loved one captured or killed by a group of these pirates. It is not a bad thing to eliminate a band of murderous thieves. If caught in the act they should be eliminated (killed) if hunted down then prosecuted. I don't want to EVER have to hurt any one but would pull the trigger in a heartbeat if someone tried to physically hurt my family or myself.

30. Pete
    August 19th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    Already been done. Malacca straits 1964.

31. Jake_lj
    August 29th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    @Somali Pirate...

    whahahahaha please don;t take the shooting personal... is just business..

32. Don Rnc
    November 16th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    Too bad its a hoax. I was looking forward to signing up. Can you imagine how few attacks would occur if these pirates thought the next attack was their last?

    Seriously, once you thin the ranks of the hard core cases the remaining pirates would disband just like the 1700s and 1800s.

    We really need to sink a few mother ships.

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