Chapter 1037 West African Pirates
Xiao Peng said "it seemed", but in fact everyone was basically certain of this - they must have encountered pirates.
After all, although this is on the coast of North Africa, it also belongs to West Africa!
When it comes to "pirates," everyone knows about Somali pirates. In fact, they've been largely wiped out. There haven't been any piracy incidents there in years. Currently, West Africa is the region with the most piracy incidents. And the most terrifying thing about West Africa is that it also has the highest number of kidnappings of crew members worldwide.
Somali pirates are only after money, but here? Their methods are even more brutal! They're not only after money, but also murder! Murder and robbery are commonplace!
A case that happened here a few years ago is very representative: the Panamanian cargo ship "Tianwei" was robbed in West Africa. The Chinese captain Fan did everything a captain should do: he asked the crew to hide directly in the safety cabin and stayed in the cockpit to fight with the pirates and ask for help. In the end, he was shot to death by the pirates.
This is what a captain should do: when faced with a pirate attack, he should do everything he can to prevent the pirates from boarding the ship and ensure safety. If that's not possible, the captain should organize the crew to enter the safe haven and ensure the safety of all crew members. He shouldn't be like the captain of the Korean ferry "Sewol," who fled when the ship ran into trouble, ultimately resulting in the deaths of over 300 people.
Koreans... hehe.
Why do pirates in West Africa kill for money? The reason is very simple. The situation here is completely different from that in Somalia, East Africa.
Somali pirates have their own private docks. They can hijack ships and tow them back to Somalia, then seek out middlemen to demand ransom. West African pirates, on the other hand, lack access to docks, so they can only rob valuable property. If the property isn't enough, they won't seize the ship, but rather the people—taking hostages and demanding ransom.
This also leads to another characteristic of West African pirates: no matter what kind of ship it is, it is their target of attack: as long as there are people on it, it means they can get money!
Although West African pirate activities are mainly concentrated in the Gulf of Guinea, they are not limited there. If there is a "suitable" target, their activities can even reach the west side of the Strait of Gibraltar.
What was a 'suitable' target? It was a target that would make them rich. Xiao Peng was undoubtedly a perfect target: rob him once? They'd have food and drink for the rest of their lives!
Xiao Peng looked at Chen Zetao, who was holding a handheld camera, and said, "Brother Chen, why don't you go to the cabin for a while?"
Chen Zetao laughed and said, "If you're not afraid, why should I be afraid? I've also been through a lot! Your livestream is quite lively, and everyone is paying attention to this. Can you tell them about it?"
Xiao Peng glanced at the screen Chen Zetao had shown him and laughed, "They're more interested in you. They're curious about what it's like to be called 'Big Brother' all the time. Hey, some people even say you're a boaster. How can you say you've seen the big things? Hahahaha."
"You're really not nervous!" Chen Zetao said.
Xiao Peng took out a cigarette and lit two, then handed one to Chen Zetao and smoked the other himself: "Why are you so nervous? If you're nervous, they won't come?"
At this point, he turned to the screen and said, "Alright, everyone in the live studio, let me explain why I think I might have encountered pirates. Some people say it wasn't just an ordinary bulk carrier. Am I making a fuss for show effect? I'm telling you, there's no need to do that."
"We're in the deep-sea salvage industry, and privacy is paramount. There are so many people in this world who seek something for nothing, and I'm known as the 'Salvage King,' so many people who don't know where to find a shipwreck want to keep an eye on my movements. That's why my ship disables its AIS and activates its anti-satellite system when operating, to prevent anyone from tracking us. And this ship, it appears to be far away and moving slowly, but they're trying to fool us by pretending to be a genuine cargo ship. In reality, its route isn't a cargo route. Even if it's in this direction due to a course error, it could still reach Canada! According to calculations, they'll be within five nautical miles of us in about fifty minutes. That's when they'll strike."
He took the handheld camera from Chen Zetao, pointed it out the window at the ship, and said, "You see, we can only see one side of the ship. I suspect there's a speedboat on the other side. This is a pirate tactic: they approach with a harmless-looking boat, then suddenly release a speedboat to chase the target. The speedboat is so fast that the target can't escape and is forced to surrender. Of course, this is just speculation. I asked for the helicopter just for this reason. Let's go and take a look!"
Chen Zetao was reading the comments when he suddenly said, "Brother Xiao, the question that the netizens in the livestream are most concerned about is why aren't we cracking down on pirates here? Like they're doing in Somalia?"
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "The reasons here are complicated. First, the laws on both sides are different. Although both Somalia and West Africa are governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Somalia also has the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia. Furthermore, there's UN Security Council Resolution 1851, which authorizes several countries to take all necessary measures to suppress piracy and armed robbery at sea in relevant waters. And what about West Africa? Although the piracy situation here is particularly severe, many countries have also introduced a Code of Conduct for the Prevention and Suppression of Criminal Activities at Sea. However, in the end, only Nigeria ratified this agreement. How can there be jurisdiction without relevant legal sanctions?"
He took a puff of his cigarette and continued, "Also, I've been traveling a lot in West Africa lately, visiting over a dozen or so countries. I've discovered a problem here. Although deeply influenced by Western countries, they have a strong sense of sovereignty due to their long period of colonial rule. This has led to a lot of contradictions in West African countries. Some people have close ties with their former colonial masters. Many colonial masters, while nominally having no ties with these countries, control the local economy. The children of the upper class study abroad in the colonial masters, while others seek ways to break free from the colonial masters' influence. The result of this game of two ideologies is that West African countries have an extremely strong sense of sovereignty. If foreign military forces intervene, there will be a strong backlash. And combating piracy can easily enter other countries' territorial waters, which means it is easy to cause international disputes. Therefore, escort fleets from various countries cannot enter! This is also the reason for the high number of pirates in West Africa... Kasim, are you ready? Send the helicopter over to take a look! Don't fly too low! Be careful!"
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