Friday, May 22, 2009

Beware, Pirates: Canada's Coming To Get You



Canada: Still kicking ass!



Story here.

ht: NNW


Canadian naval helicopters fended off pirates attacking an American container vessel near the coast of Somalia on Friday.

Well, of course we'll be there for you, my American friends!

The Canadian warship HMCS Winnipeg responded to the U.S. ship, Maersk Virginia, which was under attack in the Gulf of Aden. The ship is from the same fleet as the Maersk Alabama, whose captain was captured by pirates and held captive for four days in April.
Prior to coming to the aid of the American ship, the Canadians came to the aid of a Lebanese ship:

Within minutes, three naval helicopters from the Winnipeg took to the air in pursuit of Maria K, which was roughly 100 kilometres away. MacVicar said the pirates gave up their attack once they saw the helicopters and changed course, heading for the Maersk Virginia.

Joined by an Italian helicopter, the Canadian aircraft descended on the pirate vessel. With the helicopters hovering overhead, the pirates tossed their weapons overboard before Italian seamen boarded the vessel.

One wonders why the cowardly "pirates" don't just quit while they're ahead. Every time they try to raid a ship, they come face to face with folks they certainly don't want to see.

Pirates. In this day and age. Are they kidding us? Really. Who the hell thought it'd be a good idea to train and facilitate these dumb-assed Somali thugs to do this? The Russians? The Chinese? Al Qaeda?

What's next, stagecoach robbers?