Piracy

The container ship Mozart was more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers/230 miles) off the Nigerian coast in January when the pirates struck out of nowhere. Media outlets published reports of dramatic scenes on board the vessel: While the ship's crew cowered in a safe room fearing for their lives, the pirates quietly set about their work getting to them. It took them six hours to break open the door to the so-called Citadel but they did it. In the end, one crew member was killed and 15 others were kidnapped. The men have since been freed, but it remains unclear if ransom money was paid for their release. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there were 135 maritime kidnappings recorded in 2020 —and 130 of them took place in the Gulf of Guinea. Much like the capture of the Mozart, many of those kidnappings followed an increasingly dangerous script. "We see that the pirates are acting with greater impunity," IMB Director Michael Howlett told DW. "They are … [Read more...] about Why is piracy increasing on the Gulf of Guinea?

Jamie L.H. Goodall, pictured, wrote about the 'problematic' Buccaneers name in the Washington Post Football fans have blasted a historian's woke op-ed which claims that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' name is problematic for 'romanticizing' cutthroat pirates. Jamie L.H. Goodall, a staff historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, published her Washington Post op-ed on Friday ahead of Super Bowl LV, in which the Buccaneers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL championship. 'While this celebration of piracy seems like innocent fun and pride in a local culture, there is danger in romanticizing ruthless cutthroats who created a crisis in world trade when they captured and plundered thousands of ships on Atlantic trade routes,' Goodall wrote. But many readers hit out at the opinion piece, with former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany blasting it as 'pathetic'.  Goodall - who has a tattoo of a pirate on her arm - argued that the 'murderous thieves' … [Read more...] about Football fans blast historian’s woke op-ed which claims Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ name is problematic for ‘romanticizing’ cutthroat pirates

Few Prime Ministers actually manage to change the countries they govern. In the past 80 years, only Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair could claim to have done so – Wilson and Blair very much for the worse. Now, thanks to his achievement of a negotiated departure from the EU, Boris Johnson joins that number, and in this case the change is definitely for the better. Having won a majority that fashionable opinion said was unattainable, he has once again pulled off what almost everyone said was impossible. Four days from now, Britain will be a fully independent country again, for the first time in almost half a century. To see what a triumph this is, just remember the awful Groundhog Days of Theresa May ’s Government, month after month of futile circling and failed talks, as foolish people, who could not accept the democratic verdict, childishly refused to grant the loser’s consent which is at the heart of our democracy. Prime … [Read more...] about MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Boris the human bulldozer has triumphantly freed us from the EU – now he must use the same iron will to free us from the tyranny of lockdowns

THE owner of a hijacked cargo ship has spoken how the “very fast and quick” Special Boat Service operation overpowered the stowaways. Around 25 members from X Squadron of the Special Boat Service — sister regiment to the SAS — abseiled onto the ship yesterday evening. The hijackers had battled for control of the Grande Tema which had been circling between the Kent seaside town and Clacton. With the stand-off nearing its 12th hour, Theresa May sanctioned the crack commandos squad to storm the stricken ship which had sailed from Nigeria. Paul Kyprianou, a spokesman for Italian shipping company Grimaldi Lines which owns the ship, said the men had been locked in a cabin but broke out as the ship reached the Thames Estuary. They then threatened the ship’s 27 crew with iron bars and other makeshift weapons they picked up on board as the retreated to the bridge, where they locked themselves in. “The only thing that happened is when the operation made by the special … [Read more...] about Hijacked Margate boat owner describes moment SBS commandos abseiled onto container ship to seize four migrants threatening crew with metal bars

Inhabitants of a Caribbean paradise island have launched a quest to find the descendants of their ancestor - in Cornwall. A man named either Bodden or Bawden, from the West Country, became the first recorded settler of the islands in 1658 with grandson Isaac Bodden being dubbed the first inhabitant in 1700. Bodden found his way to the islands having sailed from Portsmouth in 1654 as part of a 3,000 strong force that invaded Jamaica during the Anglo-Spanish war. Inhabitants of the Cayman Islands are searching for relatives of their earliest settler, a Cornish man named Bodden, still living in the West Country Rather than returning to the UK once the fighting was over, he found his own little slice of paradise and settled down there. Bodden is still a common surname among Cayman Islanders, ensuring the legacy of their founder lives on. Now the islanders, backed by local MP Scott Mann, are trying to find Bodden's relatives on this side of the Atlantic. … [Read more...] about Cayman Islanders hunt for descendants of their first settler who left Cornwall for the Caribbean paradise 450 years ago