Canadian warship goes pirate hunting
New Majority
When the Canadian frigate, HMCS Winnipeg, intercepted Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last April, some were puzzled that instead of blasting the pirate boat out of the water, the Winnipeg’s helicopter displayed a “stop” sign to dissuade the hijacking.
“The stop sign was mounted beside a machine gun, and the pirates got the message – stop or else,” recalls the skipper of the Winnipeg at the time, Commander Craig Baines, now ashore and due to take a French course before assuming staff duties in Ottawa.
Cdr. Baines feels the term “pirate” is a bit misleading. “They’re more like a Los Angeles street gang,” he says. “Young, hopped up on khat, armed and dangerous, but not thugs – kids mostly, in a high-risk business.”
He was asked if sinking their boats and stringing them up wouldn’t be a more persuasive deterrent than stop signs?
“If we were to catch pirates in the process of attacking or boarding a ship, we’d take such action as necessary,” says Cdr. Baines. “Remember, we are the good guys. We follow rules. Rather than pirates in the popular sense, these people are criminals.”
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