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US Ship Fires on Boat off Dubai, 1 Dead

Making the Strait of Hormuz Redundant to Weaken Iran?


The entire world knows the importance of the Strait of Hormuz and Washington and its allies are very well aware that the Iranians can militarily close it for a significant period of time. This is why the U.S. has been working with the GCC countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the U.A.E. – to re-route their oil through pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and channelling GCC oil directly to the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, or Mediterranean Sea. Washington has also been pushing Iraq to seek alternative routes in talks with Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

pipelines_to_hormuz.jpg


Both Israel and Turkey have also been very interested in this strategic project. Ankara has had discussions with Qatar about setting up an oil terminal that would reach Turkey via Iraq. The Turkish government has attempted to get Iraq to link its southern oil fields, like Iraq’s northern oil fields, to the transit routes running through Turkey. This is all tied to Turkey’s visions of being an energy corridor and important lynchpin of transit.....snip~
 
The aims of re-routing oil away from the Persian Gulf would remove an important element of strategic leverage Iran has against Washington and its allies. It would effectively reduce the importance of the Strait of Hormuz. It could very well be a prerequisite to war preparations and a war led by the United States against Tehran and its allies.

It is within this framework that the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline or the Hashan-Fujairah Oil Pipeline is being fostered by the United Arab Emirates to bypass the maritime route in the Persian Gulf going through the Strait of Hormuz. The project design was put together in 2006, the contract was issued in 2007, and construction was started in 2008. This pipeline goes straight from Abdu Dhabi to the port of Fujairah on the shore of the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea.

In other words, it will give oil exports from the U.A.E. direct access to the Indian Ocean. It has openly been presented as a means to ensure energy security by bypassing Hormuz and attempting to avoid the Iranian military. Along with the construction of this pipeline, the erection of a strategic oil reservoir at Fujairah was also envisaged to also maintain the flow of oil to the international market should the Persian Gulf be closed off.

If Syria and Lebanon were converted into Washington’s clients, then the defunct Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline) could also be reactivated, along with other alternative routes going from the Arabian Peninsula to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea via the Levant. Chronologically, this would also fit into Washington’s efforts to overrun Lebanon and Syria in an attempt to isolate Iran before any possible showdown with Tehran.....snip~
 
EagleAye said:
Yep, this is the kind of response this "manufactured incident" was calculated to produce. Works every bloody time.
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LOL, so Iran went into mass manufacturing to receive sanctions and to be followed by air strikes later?
 
This BBC report clearly recognises they were fishermen.

"Indian fishermen injured when their boat was shot at by a US Navy ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) say they received no warnings before they came under fire.

One fisherman was killed and three others injured when the USNS Rappahannock raked the small boat with machinegun fire near Dubai on Monday.... "

BBC News - India fishermen deny US ship warned them in UAE shooting

Shades of the "Vincennes", though mercifully not on the same scale.
 
I am not a fisherman obviously. :pimpdaddy:

So is it considered normal to have 3 outboards on a 30 ft motor boat. :think:
 
RDS said:
LOL, so Iran went into mass manufacturing to receive sanctions and to be followed by air strikes later?
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Eh? What? I thought we were talking about the small boat shooting.
 
Well since we closed down the Iraq war, right, we now have the resources for a different war. Woot!
 
Apparently, this isn't the first time the "Indian Fisherman maneuver" has been tried (bold is mine):

The MV Enrica Lexie was travelling from Singapore to Egypt with a crew of 34 including 19 Indians and accompanied by six Italian marines from the San Marco Regiment, while the fishing trawler named St. Antony had left Neendakara in Kerala with a crew of 11 to fish for tuna. The incident happened between 22 nautical miles (41 km) and 14 nautical miles (26 km) from the Indian coast at approximately 4:30 PM off the coast of Kerala, with Indian and Italian sources giving different accounts of the incident.[1][4]

According to the captain of the Enrica Lexie and the Italian marines, a boat of armed pirates approached the ship and the marines fired warning shots at them as they anticipated that the pirates would try and board the ship. It was said that they resorted to firing only after the boat was warned by flashing the search lights and displaying weapons. The effectiveness of the flashing search light is unclear as the incident happened in broad daylight. Italians also claim that the incident happened in international waters and that the concerned boat was apparently not the same on which the fishermen were shot dead in the same afternoon.[2]

[...]

Speaking to an Indian television channel in India on 18 May 2012, Staffan de Mistura, the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, said : "They (Italian naval marines) had tried to send some signals. They shot into the water and fired warning shots, some of which went in the wrong direction". He described the death of the two fishermen caused by the shooting as an "accidental killing" and an "unfortunate incident which everyone regrets. Our marines never wanted this to happen, but unfortunately it took place".
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2012 Italian shooting in the Arabian Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Methinks I see a pattern here.
 
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EagleAye said:
Eh? What? I thought we were talking about the small boat shooting.
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The small boat skipper should be awarded ISO certification for Good Manufacturing Practice. (sarcastic alert)
 
RDS said:
The small boat skipper should be awarded ISO certification for Good Manufacturing Practice. (sarcastic alert)
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Or certainly the Quds bravery medal for charging at a USN ship, knowing that eventually they would fire upon him if he ignored warnings..
 
In my opinion, anyone approaching a Military ship in unstable waters is either ignorant, stupid, or up to no good. The big boat has guns for a reason...respect that, or expect the worst.
 
Lt. Greg Raelson, a spokesman for the Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said a security team aboard the USNS Rappahannock issued a series of warnings before resorting to lethal force about 10 miles (15 kilometers) off the coast of Dubai's Jebel Ali port.

"The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach. When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun," he said.

Raelson said the incident, which happened at 2:50 p.m. local time, is under investigation.

The Rappahannock is an oiler used to fuel other Navy ships while they are at sea.
The United Arab Emirates, which includes the commercial hub of Dubai and the oil-rich capital Abu Dhabi, is a key American ally in the Gulf. American warships frequently visit Jebel Ali port, a popular rest stop among U.S. sailors.

US Navy ship fires on boat off Dubai, killing 1 - World Wires - MiamiHerald.com


ABC's Report for the Miami herald.
 
b7e6ec06e3e5918add24a051fc443173


Dunno.....Does that look like a Fishing vessel to you?
 
EagleAye said:
Apparently, this isn't the first time the "Indian Fisherman maneuver" has been tried (bold is mine):


2012 Italian shooting in the Arabian Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Methinks I see a pattern here.
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Well... considering there are a billion Indians out there, and most are working off the land or sea... then there is a 1 in 7 chance that any person killed or injured in an attack on a fishing boat is an Indian.... this actually goes up the closer you are to India funny enough.
 
The Navy has launched a joint investigation with the UAE into the incident as details continue to emerge. A defense official described the offending vessel was a white pleasure craft, but two UAE officials told ABC News it was a fishing boat with four Indians and two Emiratis on board. The UAE's official news agency identified an Indian fisherman as the man who was killed.

Raelson said the small motor vessel that was hit by gunfire from the Rappahannock was "approaching at a high rate of speed" and "on a deliberate approach."

Another Navy official said it was "on a course that would have caused it to impact the Rappahanock... It wasn't just close, it was on a course that would have ultimately taken it to impact."

U.S. Navy Fires on Ship in Persian Gulf, One Dead - Yahoo! News

Deliberately Headed for our Ship. Our Boys and Girls did the Right thing! ;)
 
MMC said:
b7e6ec06e3e5918add24a051fc443173


Dunno.....Does that look like a Fishing vessel to you?
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Sport fishing for a rich man, maybe. That muther is built for speed. No way a "poor fisherman" could afford something like that.

"Real" fishing boats in the region look like this:

fishingboat.jpg
 
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EagleAye said:
Sport fishing for a rich man, maybe. That muther is built for speed. No way a "poor fisherman" could afford something like that.

"Real" fishing boats in the region look like this:

View attachment 67131073
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Myself I wouldn't have let it got that close.....and I would have made sure there was no return to port!!!!!
 
The Navy has rules of engagement for these kinds of situations - I know we did when we were in the Gulf of Tonkin. Assuming they followed the rules of engagement - and if they didn't, we'll know - the captain and crew should be OK. I'm guessing there are also videotapes and probably radar records that would give a clear picture of what happened.

An oiler would be a prime target for a terrorist attack.
 
MMC said:
Myself I wouldn't have let it got that close.....and I would have made sure there was no return to port!!!!!
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Yeah, I'm actually surprised it got as close as 100 yards. Apparently, the crew spent too much time warning them away. The crew of the boat is lucky they weren't sunk outright.
 
MMC said:
That and Isolated.....check this out.

pipelines_to_hormuz.jpg
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That's some great info of which I wasn't aware. Definitely trying to make Iran irrelevant.

Thanks.
 
tecoyah said:
In my opinion, anyone approaching a Military ship in unstable waters is either ignorant, stupid, or up to no good. The big boat has guns for a reason...respect that, or expect the worst.
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Exactly.... ignorant, stupid, up to no good or have a death wish.

Moral of the story: Governments should educate the fishermen before giving them license for fishing in the most dangerous waters of the world!
 
I find it very hard to believe those fishermen weren't warned. It just isn't very likely. We allowed the boats used to protest us in Australia to get pretty close til we told them that they would be fired upon if they got closer while we were in Perth before OIF. The ships logs should show that they were warned (heck, those Australians taped their warnings and broadcast them on TV to claim we were "threatening" them).

I was out when the Cole got hit. Security was horrible. In fact, we had just left Jebel Ali when it happened and only got to return for pier liberty over Christmas. Now, I know this wasn't an actual USN ship, but still the protocol would have to be the same, especially with our sailors onboard.
 
roguenuke said:
I find it very hard to believe those fishermen weren't warned. It just isn't very likely. We allowed the boats used to protest us in Australia to get pretty close til we told them that they would be fired upon if they got closer while we were in Perth before OIF. The ships logs should show that they were warned (heck, those Australians taped their warnings and broadcast them on TV to claim we were "threatening" them).

I was out when the Cole got hit. Security was horrible. In fact, we had just left Jebel Ali when it happened and only got to return for pier liberty over Christmas. Now, I know this wasn't an actual USN ship, but still the protocol would have to be the same, especially with our sailors onboard.
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They were warned............

"the Rappahannock, but a Navy security team is aboard to protect the ship. "The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach," the Navy statement said. U.S. officials said the fishermen ignored warnings by radio, loudspeakers and flashing lights before the Navy security team opened fire." (see post 8)
 
Connery said:
They were warned............

"the Rappahannock, but a Navy security team is aboard to protect the ship. "The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach," the Navy statement said. U.S. officials said the fishermen ignored warnings by radio, loudspeakers and flashing lights before the Navy security team opened fire." (see post 8)
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Yes, I know what the story says (and I actually believe this side knowing what I do from being a sailor) but I was going off what the "fishermen" are claiming. It does sound like a he said/*Navy* said case, but hopefully the ship keeps recordings of when they issue warnings. Log books are good too, particularly if there is no sign at all of tampering, but audio or video would be even better as a "see, we have proof that we warned them no matter what they try to claim".
 
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