Hi Mach Two,
Difficult question to answer as at first I saw what I wanted to see and that was pirates getting a dose of their own medicine but then my natural instincts cut in and I started to both study the footage and also think about what I was watching.
When I first saw that footage I was sure I saw two or three souls aboard that first skiff, but as it is about to collide or ram that ship you get the clearest image and obviously if it was a remotely operated target, there would not be anyone aboard those 'targets' and that is what I now maintain. The dayglo coverings are possibly vulnerable parts that the operator might like to re-use or recover, however can I respectfully suggest that the small arms fire possibly knocked out the radio control ability of that boat?
When you look at that first skiff you can see the front half is covered over by what looks like a fibre glass deck but note I say 'looks like' and not 'is covered over'. When I thought I saw two or three souls aboard that vessel it was just two seconds away from the collision and that still frame. Note there are no bodies in the water and no signs of bodies laying in the boat, I can only assume I never saw what I thought I did
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Look how high the sides of that ship are and you tell me how one or two pirates are going to climb up that ships side whilst it is travelling at that speed in the full knowledge they will be facing armed guards during their attempts at boarding that ship!!.
Yes I have boarded ships at sea and travelling at that sort of speed is going to be a 'challenge' and I cannot recall ever doing it at any speed unless the vessel was low in the water, however I would love to hear the thoughts of 500N and I will DEFINITELY bow to his expertise. I have simply NOT boarded a high sided ship at anything other than slow speeds (5knts would be a good guess)
What else is strange is listening to the Asian crew right at the beginning of this incident\attack\exercise. One man starts talking about taking a walk to look at the steering gear. This conversation starts getting very heated. We then hear a European saying something which I cannot make out but the senior person coordinating the security guards quite clearly states, "I'll give you a weapons free when we are ready!" As soon as that heated discussion stops then authorisation is given and everything kicks off
Now to me if you have an incoming attack from Somali pirates, the first thing you would be doing is making quite sure your radio officer is broadcasting a message as 'loudly' (humour) and as clearly as possible on the marine radio. (channel 16) You would be hearing that order rather than some silly discussion about going for a walk to check the steering gear. I have NO idea of the actual location of this gear or the accessibility but my guess would be that to get to the steering gear it would entail a walk along the upper deck to a hatch that would take you down into the very bowels of the ship. If there was an incoming armed attack, would you volunteer to go for a walk just to check some hydraulic rams located deep down inside the ship? The first part of the conversation was the person talking about going for a walk, 'To check the steering gear' To clarify what that is, it is the rams that work the rudder and that compartment is not a place that has a watchkeeper or is considered something requiring close attention UNLESS it has developed a fault. It would though be checked periodically to make sure there are no leaks be they hydraulic or any other type of liquid. The ship will in all probability be steered from the bridge. (Some older ships would have a separate wheelhouse, but nowhere near that steering gear))
I am asking questions and I will not be embarrassed if my assumptions are incorrect as pirates have been known to attack shipping during daylight hours. BUT every incident I have heard of or read about always seem to talk about those skiff type boats acting like a pack of hyena and standing off to see if the merchant vessel is vulnerable or an easy prey. To attack a high sided, fast moving vessel in daylight that has armed guards that are clearly very trigger happy makes no sense and I cannot see the logic, even if they are stoned out of their tiny brains.
Just my observations though