This last article is really just a group of videos, but very important and very related to the subject at hand. You can believe whatever you like, but there is a direct correspondence between the growing interested in these spirits and their increasing activity. Please understand that though pirates are actual people, the force behind them is very dark and very spiritual. Mermaids are very spiritual beings who are able to manifest in human form. People across the Earth are being fooled into seeing Pirates as funny-loving, merry-making gigolos, and Merfolk as lovely, benevolent, wonderful creatures. THIS IS THE FARTHEST THING FROM THE TRUTH. Wake up World! The hammer is about to fall.
Please be sure and visit the following articles for much more information:
Recent Sightings around Alaska match stories of an Arctic mermaid that attacks people. With only five percent of the world’s oceans explored, new marine species are being discovered all the time, in Season 1, Episode 8, “It Lurks Beneath The Ice”. #MissinginAlaska Subscribe for more from Missing in Alaska and other great HISTORY shows: https://histv.co/SubscribeToHistory
6 years ago|6K views Discovery Channel 2/2 Mermaids: The New Evidence
Animal Discovery
Animal Planet has fished out some great ratings from its ‘Mermaids’ specials, but critics are skeptical about the program’s informational content.
Animal Planet reeled in a heck of a catch. The telecast of “Mermaids: The New Evidence” — a special that examined the plausibility of the existence of the mythological creatures — drew 3.6 million viewers, an all-time record for the cable network.
Somali Pirates vs. US Navy. Have you ever heard of the pirates of Somalia? Somali Pirates vs. US Navy. The group of people who wield not just cutlasses and pistols, but power and chaos in equal measure. But imagine a scenario where these pirates try to attack the mighty ships of the US Navy – those that are armed to the teeth and equipped with state-of-the-art technology; often exceeding 300 meters in length with the capability of displacing 100,000 tons! What would happen when these modern pirates try to mess with the deadlist ships of the US Navy fleet? Don’t underestimate the pirates though, they’ve long evolved from what’s depicted in the tales of infamous Caribbean pirates and the legendary feats of figures like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd. Today’s pirates are the real deal – and if you think they don’t pack a punch, you might be wrong! Join us as we delve into the gripping account of how a notorious band of Somali pirates set their sights on the MV Faina, a ship transporting a large cargo of weapons, including tanks, ammunition, and other military equipment. We’ll soon discuss what happened when the US Navy deployed the USS Howard destroyer, and how it took the United States and several other nations to negotiate with the Somali pirates for the release of the ship – leaving us to wonder yet again, do pirates actually stand a chance? #usnavy#pirates#aircraftcarrier
Ecuador isn’t exactly a hot spot of global piracy, but armed robbers regularly attack ships in and around the port of Guayaquil. It’s the seventh-busiest port in Latin America, handling most of Ecuador’s agricultural and industrial imports and exports. Ships moored along the port’s quays or, like the Fouma, transiting its narrow river passages are easy prey for local criminal gangs.
Only a few short years ago the international community was celebrating the end of maritime piracy. Worldwide in 2019, there were fewer attacks and attempted attacks on ships than there had been in 25 years.
But as the Guayaquil attack hints, pirates may be getting more active. Already, the first three months of 2020 have seen a 24% increase in pirate attacks and attempted attacks, over the same period in 2019. As a scholar of sea piracy, I worry that the coronavirus pandemic may make piracy even more of a problem in the coming months and years.
In a photo from 2012, masked Somali pirate Hassan stands near a Taiwanese fishing vessel that washed up on a Somali shore after the pirates were paid a ransom and released the crew.AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh
Counter-piracy successes
Modern sea piracy often involves pirates in small fast boats approaching and boarding larger, slower-moving ships to rob them of cargo – such as car parts, oil, crew valuables, communication equipment – or to seize the ship and crew for ransom.
Beginning in 2008, the greater Gulf of Aden area off the coast of East Africa became the most dangerous waters in the world for pirate attacks. Somali pirates like those portrayed in the 2013 Tom Hanks movie “Captain Phillips” spent five years regularly hijacking large commercial vessels.
As a result of these efforts, the global number of attacks and attempted attacks dropped significantly over the past decade, from a high of nearly 450 incidents in 2010 to fewer than 165 incidents in 2019 – the lowest number of actual and attempted pirate attacks since 1994. Ship hijackings, the most severe and visible manifestation of sea piracy, also have declined since 2010.
A return of pirates?
However, the Fouma attack is a troubling sign. The sea robbers seem to have had detailed advance knowledge of the ship’s cargo, as well as its course and the personnel on board. Those are clues that the pirates planned the attack, likely with help from the crew or others with specific information about the ship.
The medical and economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic seems likely to pose severe challenges for countries with few resources and weak governments. West African and South American countries already struggle to police their territorial waters. Those regions have not yet been severely affected by the coronavirus, though infections are growing on both continents.
As hospitals fill with COVID-19 patients, the regions’ governments will almost certainly shift their public safety efforts away from sea piracy and toward more immediate concerns on land. That will create opportunities for pirates.
The disease may make it harder for crews to protect ships as well. Most merchant vessel crews are already stretched thin. If crew members get sick, restrictions on international travel prevent their replacements from meeting the ship in whatever port it’s in.
Slowing consumer spending around the globe means less trade, which brings less revenue for shipping companies to spend on armed guards or other methods of protecting ships against pirates. As a result, ships will likely become easier targets for pirates.
Even with the early numbers suggesting an increase for 2020, global piracy still isn’t as high as it was during the Somali peak from 2009 to 2012. But if economic conditions worsen around the globe and ships look like easy targets, more desperate people may turn to piracy, or ramp up their existing efforts in an attempt to survive.
Defending the ideals of our Nation includes fighting for the security of international waters. When Somali pirates take a German merchant vessel hostage, a Marine Maritime Raid Force takes action to rescue the crew. Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) honors 10 years of battles won: https://youtu.be/b0F7VWE6Z1c
Somali Pirates have built up quite the reputation over the years for hijacking numerous vessels and ships from countries such as Russia, the UK, China and others. Although rarely do these Somali Pirates succeed due to special opps taking them out!
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Top 10 Somali Pirates V Special Opps Encounters!
In this video you will encounter and witness what happens when Somali Pirates try to Hijack a Russia ship, Chinese, Dutch, British, Dutch, Indian or Canadian ship. And what happens to these Somali Pirates when the Royal Navy, special opps, SAS and Special Forces arrive to take back control of these ships.
Pirates have changed over the years. Gone are the days of rum barrels, peg legs and dysentery. These days pirates are all about AK-47s, rocket launchers, poverty, and, well… dysentery. There’s probably still plenty of that.
Somali pirates act out of desperation because the western world has used their home as a toxic waste dump, but that’s a story for another day. Because when they cross a line, they are met with the superior firepower and training of special forces from all over the world, and it only ends one way.
Armed militiamen and a pirate walk on a rocky outcrop on the coast in the central Somali town of Hobyo as a hijacked Korean supertanker lies anchored on the horizon in 2010.Getty Images
s are running amok in the Caribbean and Latin America, according to a disturbing new report Wednesday that found a staggering surge in pirate attacks last year.
Seventy-one pirate attacks were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2017 — a 163 percent increase from the year before, according to the nonprofit group Oceans Beyond Piracy, which found that 59 percent of the incidents involved robberies on yachts.
“Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region,” said the report’s lead author, Maisie Pigeon.
Pirates have hit waters off the coast of Suriname hard.
In April, at least a dozen fishermen from Guyana went missing or were feared dead following a pirate attack in the area.
Guyana President David Granger called the attack a “massacre.”
And a fishing boat captain was shot dead after his ship was attacked in May. The rest of his crew survived.
The buccaneers also attacked anchorages in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia.
OBP estimated that pirates carted off nearly $1 million in stolen goods in attacks in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, in East Africa, four vessels were hijacked in 54 total incidents in 2017, with a spike in crimes recorded around the Horn of Africa.
But the cost of piracy in the region was $1.4 billion in 2017 — down from $1.7 billion in 2016 and $7 billion in 2010, during the peak of attacks by Somali gangs.
“There are now a wide range of threats to shipping near the Horn of Africa that have been complicated by the conflict and instability in Yemen,” said Phil Belcher, marine director with association INTERTANKO, which represents the majority of the world’s tanker fleet.
West Africa saw a slight increase in pirate attacks — 97 in 2017 compared to 95 the year before.
But there were 21 kidnap-for-ransom incidents in 2017, three more than 2016. One hundred crew members were taken hostage and two were killed.
“Kidnap-for-ransom continues to plague the region, which is a trend that has unfortunately continued from 2016,” Pigeon said.
Buccaneers are running amok in the Caribbean and Latin America, according to a disturbing new reportWednesday that found a staggering surge in pirate attacks last year.
Seventy-one pirate attacks were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2017 — a 163 percent increase from the year before, according to the nonprofit group Oceans Beyond Piracy, which found that 59 percent of the incidents involved robberies on yachts.
“Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region,” said the report’s lead author, Maisie Pigeon.
Pirates have hit waters off the coast of Suriname hard.
In April, at least a dozen fishermen from Guyana went missing or were feared dead following a pirate attack in the area.
Guyana President David Granger called the attack a “massacre.”
And a fishing boat captain was shot dead after his ship was attacked in May. The rest of his crew survived.
The buccaneers also attacked anchorages in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia.
OBP estimated that pirates carted off nearly $1 million in stolen goods in attacks in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, in East Africa, four vessels were hijacked in 54 total incidents in 2017, with a spike in crimes recorded around the Horn of Africa.
But the cost of piracy in the region was $1.4 billion in 2017 — down from $1.7 billion in 2016 and $7 billion in 2010, during the peak of attacks by Somali gangs.
“There are now a wide range of threats to shipping near the Horn of Africa that have been complicated by the conflict and instability in Yemen,” said Phil Belcher, marine director with association INTERTANKO, which represents the majority of the world’s tanker fleet.
West Africa saw a slight increase in pirate attacks — 97 in 2017 compared to 95 the year before.
But there were 21 kidnap-for-ransom incidents in 2017, three more than 2016. One hundred crew members were taken hostage and two were killed.
“Kidnap-for-ransom continues to plague the region, which is a trend that has unfortunately continued from 2016,” Pigeon said.
According to official documents obtained by Mexican news agency Milenio, 21 attacks on Pemex vessels and installations in the Bay of Campeche were recorded between December 2016 and January 2018. As a result of those incidents, 11 oil platforms have experienced material losses.
The most notable recent attacks include the theft of money and communications equipment from the Crest Basan vessel in May last year, followed by the boarding of the Nohoch-B platform in October.
In December 2017, Pemex requested increased support from Mexico’s Navy. In response, the Navy has stepped up security in the gulf, imposing restrictions on vessel and aircraft navigation between March 15 and November 30, 2018.
2893/5000 This week on the coast of Campeche, the Italian ship Remas, which left two sailors injured, was not an isolated case. Photo: (EFE)
The average monthly robbery in this year is 16, while in 2018 it was 144 cases, while in 2017 there were only 48 incidents
Insecurity in Mexico has already reached sea levels. The assault this week on the coast of Campeche to the Italian supplier ship Rema, which left two sailors injured, was not an isolated case, there has been an increase in assaults also in Ciudad del Carmen and Dos Bocas, Tabasco state.
OSV REMAS, a technical support vessel, specifically designed to access and operate with oil platforms. Overall length 75.42m
From January to September, the International Federation of Transport Workers (ITF) reported 16 monthly assaults on merchant ships on the maritime shipping strip of the three states mentioned.
The monthly average of ship robberies in 2018 was 144 cases, while in 2017 it was only 48 incidents per month. This year there were at least 167 attacks without a single arrest.
State of Tabasco in the Gulf of Mexico ►
Merchant Marine data indicate that pirate attacks on commercial vessels in Mexico increased 316% between 2016 and 2018.
“This has already generated an international alert, due to the effects on trade. Pirates are ravaging ships more and more, ”Enrique Lozano, ITF inspector for Latin America told the Reforma portal.
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the areas in the world where more oil platforms are operating on the high seas
According to information provided, pirates are not only operating in shallow waters, they go beyond, offshore, more than 80 nautical miles, about 180 kilometers.
“The pirates are also attacking in the Cantarell area, on the platforms (of Pemex) in the northwest of Campeche, offshore, about 80 nautical miles, between Cd. Del Carmen and Tabasco.
Public Security authorities in the coastal municipalities of Yucatán have deployed security operations. (Photo: SSP Yucatán)
The pirates travel in two or more boats with powerful outboard engines with up to 14 armed men, depending on the platform or the ship is how they plan the attack, ”insisted the inspector.
Before the wave of robberies, the Campeche Business Coordinating Council reiterated that these attacks put foreign investments in the energy sector at risk.
“Businessmen look for peaceful areas where their resources are protected, but the number of attacks has increased,” said Alejandro Fuentes Alvarado, president of the agency.
The waterfront in Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico, on the Bay of Campeche. There has been a surge of piracy in the bay.Credit…Witold Skrypczak/Alamy
MEXICO CITY — The pirates appeared out of the darkness, leaping aboard the Italian-flagged supply ship off the coast of Mexico. Weapons drawn, the eight attackers worked swiftly, taking crew members hostage while they ransacked the vessel and snatched personal belongings and equipment.
Shots were fired, according to the United States Office of Naval Intelligence, and a security video showed a pirate gesticulating wildly with a pistol before the robbers sped away with their loot.
The attack in April was part of a stunning surge of piracy in the southern Gulf of Mexico, a threat that prompted an American government security alert on Wednesday.
There have been scores of attacks, thefts and other criminal acts in the area in the last few years, according to the Mexican Navy Ministry. Other estimates suggest the number may be far greater.
The attacks — mainly on vessels and offshore platforms associated with the Mexican oil industry — have added another hefty burden to Mexico’s overstretched security forces and threatened to chill foreign investment in Mexico’s oil sector.
On Wednesday, the American government issued a special security alert about the danger of pirates in Mexican waters of the Gulf, particularly in a vast bight called the Bay of Campeche, where offshore oil wells are concentrated.
“Armed criminal groups have been known to target and rob commercial vessels, oil platforms and offshore supply vehicles,” the alert said.
Pirates have not only robbed crew members of their money, phones, computers and other valuables but have stripped vessels and oil platforms of big-ticket items to be sold in the region’s thriving black markets, including sophisticated communication and navigation equipment, fuel, motors, oxygen tanks, construction material and, in several cases, the lights from helicopter landing pads.
Paramedics in Ciudad del Carmen treating crew member of a ship attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Mexico last November.Credit…EPA, via Shutterstock
While the sharp rise in attacks in the Bay of Campeche over the last three and a half years seems to have caught the maritime industry and the Mexican government by surprise, this modern-day piracy has historical antecedents in the region.
From the 16th to 19th centuries, privateers, freebooters and buccaneers prowled the waters off the Yucatán Peninsula, attacking Spanish trading vessels carrying goods bound for Spain, particularly silver from the interior of Mexico and present-day Bolivia, said Antonio García de León, who wrote a book about the history of piracy in the Gulf.
But something changed in 2017, officials said. That year, there were at least 19 successful or attempted robberies or thefts of oil platforms, supply vessels and fishing boats in the Bay of Campeche, up from only four in 2016 and one in 2015, according to Mexico’s Navy Ministry, also known as Semar.
In 2018, according to ministry records, there were 16 such incidents in the Bay of Campeche. Another 20 were recorded last year and 19 so far this year, the ministry said.
But these tallies are almost certainly undercounts, maritime experts said.
The American Naval Intelligence office said that globally “many incidents” of piracy go unreported for a variety of reasons, including a desire to avoid notifying an insurer or to avoid an investigation by law enforcement.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation, which represents seafarers, estimates that there were about 180 thefts and robberies in the Bay of Campeche last year alone. Enrique Lozano Díaz, the federation’s inspector for the Gulf of Mexico, said the estimate was based on accounts from seafarers, local media coverage and emergency radio calls from vessels under attack.
The sudden increase in crime in the Bay of Campeche has come as the Mexican government has sought, without much effect, to arrest soaring violence on the mainland.
The escalation has also dovetailed with a growth in foreign investment in Mexico’s oil sector after sweeping reforms in 2013 allowed the government to auction exploration and production rights to investor-owned businesses.
There are now more than 200 oil platforms dotting the Bay of Campeche, the source of most of Mexico’s oil. Hundreds of vessels crisscross the bay ferrying supplies and workers to and from platforms. More exploration and more activity has led to more opportunity for criminals, analysts said.
Pemex oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche. A surge in oil drilling in the bay has created more opportunities for criminals.Credit…Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg
Piracy and sea robbery are “viewed as a growth opportunity for the international criminal organizations,” said Rockford Weitz, director of maritime studies at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. “With the kind of economic troubles we’re seeing globally, it’s only likely to increase.”
The pirates — armed with assault rifles, shotguns and other weapons — typically move in small groups of 5 to 15 people and attack at night, using the lights of ships and platforms to guide them, according to American and Mexican officials.
They travel in small boats that often resemble local fishing vessels but are equipped with powerful outboard motors that enable them to surprise their prey and flee before government security forces can respond.
“They are plenty aware of Semar’s reaction time and lack of resources to tackle this crime,” said Lee Oughton, chief operating officer of Fortress Risk Management, a Mexico-based security consultancy, referring to the Mexican Navy. “Bad actors know that resources are strained and offshore is particularly vulnerable.”
The assault on the Italian-flagged supply ship in April, in which no one was injured, was among at least six attacks that month in the Bay of Campeche, according to documents from the Mexican and American government and representatives of the Mexican merchant mariners.
Among the other targets were vessels registered in Gibraltar, Denmark, Panama and the United Arab Emirates, officials said. In two instances, the vessels’ captains thwarted the attacks, but in the other cases, the pirates managed to board the ships and steal equipment and other valuables before escaping.
For the Italian-flagged vessel, the Remas, it was the second time in five months that it had been hit. In November, armed men forcibly boarded the ship in the Bay of Campeche, wounding two crew members, including one who was shot and required evacuation by the Navy. Calls and emails seeking comment from the ship’s owner, the Italian company Micoperi, were not returned.
There have been few arrests in any of these pirate attacks in recent years.
“There’s impunity,” said Antonio Rodríguez Fritz, a representative of the Order of Naval Captains and Officers, a merchant mariner trade union in Mexico. The criminals, he continued, “evidently know that they can keep committing crimes.”
The Italian-flagged Remas was attacked by pirates twice in five months.Credit…EPA, via Shutterstock
Leaders of Mexico’s merchant mariners have implored the government to do more to control the Bay of Campeche.
The Mexican government has acknowledged the problem and has taken steps to strengthen its antipiracy capabilities, particularly since the spate of attacks in April.
In recent weeks, the Navy has expanded its surveillance, beefed up its patrols of the bay and provided a guarded, offshore anchorage for ships not docking in harbors.
These efforts appear to be having some effect: The ministry said it has received no confirmed reports of robberies in the Bay of Campeche this month and received three last month.
But industry experts say it is too early to tell whether the decline is sustainable, or whether criminals will simply adapt to the government’s new strategies.
“I think the attackers — the modern pirates, as we call them — are adjusting to how the Navy is operating,” Mr. Lozano of the transportation workers’ union said.
Government officials have also foisted some of the blame for the rise in maritime criminality on the merchant mariners and other civilian workers on ships and platforms, insisting that some attacks have benefited from inside help from crew members.
“There is collusion,” Adm. José Rafael Ojeda Durán, Mexico’s navy minister, said at a news conference in April.
That assertion enraged merchant mariners.
In a letter to Mr. Ojeda Durán, representatives of 10 maritime organizations demanded an apology and turned the accusation against the government itself, suggesting that if there were any collusion, it might be among elements under the command of the Navy.
“They are always late to respond to the emergency calls,” the letter said. “We are the victims because of the failure to patrol this zone.”
Steve Fisher contributed reporting.
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Business Insider By Christopher Woody / Posted On April 29, 2020 15:58:23
A pirate attack on an Italian ship in the Gulf of Mexico that left two sailors wounded isn’t the first such incident, and with Mexico struggling to address rising insecurity, it’s not likely to be the last.
About eight armed pirates arrived in two small ships and boarded the vessel, an Italian-flagged supply ship named Remas, in the evening on Nov. 11, 2019, and robbed the crew, according to reports about the incident.The ship was being operated by the Italian firm Micoperi, which services offshore oil platforms. The incident took place about 12 miles off the coast of Ciudad del Carmen in the state of Campeche in southeast Mexico.
The Mexican navy said Nov. 12, 2019, that two of the roughly 35 people on board were wounded — one shot in the leg and another struck in the head.
The navy said it sent a fast boat to the site of the attack late on Nov. 11, 2019. The sailors were taken to a private clinic for treatment, according to local media.
The incident is only the latest attack on oil infrastructure and extraction operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
“They’re starting to attack ships that are transporting petroleum for Pemex” and providing other services, said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration. “Now I presume this is going to be the wave of the future. They are going to be attacking more and more tankers.”
Thieves, sometimes disguised as fishermen, typically arrive in small boats with powerful outboard motors, quickly boarding platforms or other ships to take valuables from crew and other equipment, which is often resold ashore.
Mexico’s state oil firm, known as Pemex, has acknowledged the threat, and together with the navy has said it would increase security efforts. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in March 2019 that the navy would establish a permanent operation at the port of Dos Bocas, Tabasco, his home state, to confront the pirates.
Nevertheless, there have been reports of hundreds of robberies of this kind.
Pemex documents obtained by the newspaper Milenio showed that 197 such robberies took place in 2018, the most out of the past three years and a 310% increase over the 48 attacks in 2016. Those robberies cost the firm at least .5 million between 2016 and 2018, according to the documents.
The waters at the southern end of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Campeche and neighboring Tabasco state — where Pemex operates more than 100 platforms — are the most affected.
‘Wave of the future’
The rise in theft from fuel platforms in the Gulf mirrors the increase in fuel theft from pipelines and Pemex facilities on the ground. The number of unauthorized taps discovered on fuel lines nearly quintupled between 2011 and 2016.
The theft has cost the Mexican government billions of dollars and is sometimes deadly for the thieves and others at the scene.
Drill vessel prepares for drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, July 9, 2010.
(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Tiffany Carvalho)
Cracking down on fuel theft was one of Lopez Obrador’s first security initiatives after taking office in December 2018. The president declared victory in spring 2019, saying his administration had reduced fuel theft by 95% and defeated theives.
That response included deploying troops and federal police to pipelines and other high-theft areas, but that alienated some communities, and security forces have struggled to strike a balance between providing security and allowing the industry to operate. In some areas, violence has risen even as fuel theft declined.
“The military is providing more security to the pipelines, but it will be difficult to provide security to vessels shipping petroleum,” Vigil said, noting that government still needs to respond to violence rising throughout Mexico and that the military doesn’t have the training or resources to effectively pursue pirates in the Gulf. “I have to assume it’s going to become more and more dangerous for Pemex transports [and] transport ships.”
Fuel theft on land is not always the work of organized crime. At times, local residents have tapped pipelines to access fuel for their own use or for resale. Stealing fuel and other hardware at sea is harder but still lucrative, meaning it’s likely to continue and grow as an area of interest for cartels and other criminal groups.
“Not everybody uses drugs, but everybody uses gas,” Vigil said. “It is evolving. It’s going to be the wave of the future. There’s so much money involved”
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.