Those Somalis made the right call surrendering, those guys did not look like they would fuck around, although I wouldn’t have mind seeing some headshots. And to those wondering what happens when Somali pirates successfully hijack a cargo ship, here is some valuable insight by pudding7:
They capture the ship, which is surprisingly easy to do assuming there aren’t armed guards on board (which is becoming more common) or that the ship hasn’t put in place sufficient countermeasures (remote controlled water cannons being the favorite and fairly effective). Then they use the threat of violence to get the captain to steer the ship toward “friendly” waters, which around the Horn of Africa will be somewhere along the coast of Somalia depending on what gang or what clan they’re from. Then another crew of pirates will come on board to begin the long, tedious process of keep the crew under guard and prevent anyone else from taking the ship.
[here’s a “proof of life” picture of a captured crew being guard by pirates during a very long negotiation process (http://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/aug_09/Images/redalert2.jpg )
After many weeks/months of negotiations, during which the guards and crew live together in pretty shitty conditions seeing as how the fuel for the ships generator ran out a long time ago and there’s no AC or running water and they’re all eating local food which is brought out to the ship every couple days by yet more of the pirate gang, finally the owners of the ship will deliver a suitcase full of cash by dropping it from an airplane. The crew will then be released to some neutral party, and the leader of the pirate gang will now have to divide up the several million dollar ransom amongst all his gang. Arrangements are made to then tow the ship somewhere safe so it and it’s cargo can be salvaged.
The guys who captured the ship get the largest shares, then the guys who guarded the ship, finally the lowest level members of the gang were the ones who ferried supplies back and forth. The leader(s) of the gang will split most of the ransom with the negotiator, who is usually a well educated third party that handles ransoms for multiple pirate gangs, all via satellite phone back to the home office of the ship owners.
Once everyone’s been paid, they all roll into the nearest town of decent size and buy range rovers, hookers, and vast amounts of khat (a drug, leafy plant they chew for it’s stimulant effects). Live like their version of kings for a few weeks before the money runs out. Then they load up a shitty little boat, maybe get some intel on potential target ships and their expected routes and cargo (to determine if the owners would pay a good ransom), load up a ton of gas and some food and head back out a few hundred miles. If they don’t successfully hijack a ship it’s often a one-way trip and they die out there on the water, or they throw their guns overboard and hope someone rescues them since they can then claim to be fishermen, even though everyone knows they’re not but can’t prove it.
What’s ironic, at least regarding Somalia pirates, is that historically they’re not really a sea-going people. Fish is considered the lowest form of food, even though they claim the piracy is really just protecting their fishing grounds (which, to be honest have really been pillaged by foreign fishing vessels over the years/decades). So these guys heading out into the open water generally don’t come from a strong nautical background. Many can’t even swim.
Bonus Video: Russians catch Somali pirates, lecture them, leave them handcuffed on their ship, and blow it up!
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