Denmark's ruling party proposes sinking ships to disrupt piracy

[News_Editor]

Denmark's ruling party proposes sinking ships to disrupt piracy

2011-03-09 01:06:01 GMT+7 (ICT)

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (BNO NEWS) -- Denmark's ruling party, the Liberal Party, on Tuesday proposed that the Danish navy should be able to sink mother ships to disrupt piracy, the Politiken newspaper reported.

Liberal Party spokesman Michael Aastrup Jensen said that the mother ships are used as platform for skiffs which are used by pirates to attack merchant and other vessels in diverse areas.

Jensen added that the proposal on how to combat piracy will be published on Tuesday. The Liberal Party also proposed that Danish naval mandate should allow to board and confiscate pirates' mother ships.

Danish government ministers will meet to discuss and develop an anti-piracy strategy following the hijack of seven Danish citizens on February 24. Two other Danish hostages have also been held by pirates since mid-January.

Nils Wang, current Commanding Officer of the Danish Defense Academy, said that a wider strategy is needed for anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean than simply chasing pirates.

"There are many different initiatives that have to come into play, and the pirates have to be helped to get back into fisheries," said former officer of the Admiral Fleet Denmark. "The problem is that overall, what is going on in anti-piracy is relatively uncoordinated, and that is a major problem."

Wang proposed that the United Nations sets up a new and efficient coastguard, in which Denmark could contribute. Wang's proposal calls for foreign ships to pay fishing licenses so that Somali pirates can once again work as fishermen.

"The idea is basically a good one, and local coastguard capacity is something the Danish government supports," said Development Aid Minister Søren Pind in support of Wang's proposal.

On February 24, Somali pirates captured a Danish family and two other adults who were on their 43-foot yacht in the Indian Ocean. They were on their way from the Maldives to the Red Sea.

After the capture, a death threat was sent by Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali pirate who claims to be connected with the capturers. Denmark said it was doing everything in its power to assist the family, who is from Kalundborg.

On Monday morning, Somali authorities surrounded a village in which seven Danish hostages are thought to be being held by pirates and offered the abductors safe conduct if they release the four adults and three children. The pirates have not issued a response yet.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-09

[billd766]

Another idea might be to publicly hang pirates who are caught as a deterrent to others.

It used to happen in the old days (before PC) and the so called human rights of the perpetrators.

Of course the HR machine has no interest in the victims.

[Steely Dan]

I'm all for the idea. If the Danes want to fly under a flag of convenience may I suggest they use my avatar logo.

[koheesti]

Kudos to the Danes.