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News Crew
Guest
The weather is once again the main story this week, and probably will be for a while. There were a couple of interesting developments this week however. Interpol is beginning compiling a database of fingerprints, photographs, and other personal information on Somalian pirate suspects to help fight piracy at sea. Without that information, "it is simply not possible to establish their true identity or to make connections which would otherwise be missed," Interpol said in a statement. The international laws are so murky when it comes to prosecuting piracy, I don't see how this is going to help a whole lot until more governments are willing to take a tougher stance.Also this week, for the first time since World War II, Japanese naval vessels have been given the authority to fire in defense of other countries commercial cargo ships while they patrol for pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Japans parliament passed the measure on Friday. Previously, the Japanese force was only allowed to escort Japanese vessels, or those with Japanese cargoes or crews, and use weapons only for self-defence. They will now be able to escort any ship and have more leeway to fire, such as at suspected pirate vessels which fail to heed warnings not to approach commercial vessels. They can't fire directly at the pirates themselves. Japan has two naval destroyers escorting Japan-related ships in the area, where more than a dozen nations are helping in a policing operation. It has also stationed two intelligence-gathering aircraft in Djibouti.Read on for this weeks Weekly Piracy Report! Read more... (http://piratesahoy.net/history/real-pirates/394-real-pirates-weekly-piracy-report.html) View the full article
