Perhaps this is the way to deal with Somali pirates, and get a little R&R at the same time: a Russian luxury cruise line is offering wealthy customers the chance to hunt pirates!
Update 6/26/09 - It's a hoax, though I think the proposed (morbid and not to mention unethical) solution is still a matter of interesting debate - Thanks rb!Wealthy punters pay £3,500 per day to patrol the most dangerous waters in the world hoping to be attacked by raiders.
When attacked, they retaliate with grenade launchers, machine guns and rocket launchers, reports Austrian business paper Wirtschaftsblatt.
Passengers, who can pay an extra £5 a day for an AK-47 machine gun and £7 for 100 rounds of ammo, are also protected by a squad of ex special forces troops.
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?
Hyperbolic trolls aside, I am interested in learning more about both sides of the issue.
http://www.somalicruises.com/
Alarming stories like this are surfacing from the neo-rich of this country..
Not neat at all!
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...
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/05/somali-coast-cruise-package.html
Being on a ship that is pirated does not sound all that fun to me either.
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.
Shouldnt be ex-special forces guards though; only ninjas can handle this task. :P
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.
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
whahahahaha please don;t take the shooting personal... is just business..
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.
mail info ect. for this Kool,Russian crusie,vaction for 2010/2011.
I'd love to go.
Thanks Dave Fisherman.-USA