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Pirates Die "strangely" After Taking Iranian Ship: Radiation


Lounge Daddy

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What are the Iranians carting around in their ships? Somali Pirates have been in the news, most of the coverage here has been about US and Russian involvement in stopping the pirates. But this is something that hasn't been in our news in the States.

from [url="http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=851953"]The Times[/url]:
[indent]A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates.

Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.”

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.
...
The ship is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, or IRISL, a state-owned company run by the Iranian military.

According to the US Treasury Department, the IRISL regularly falsifies shipping documents to hide the identity of end users, uses generic terms to describe shipments and operates under various covers to circumvent United Nations sanctions.

The ship set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July. According to its manifest, it was heading for Rotterdam where it would unload 42500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by a German client.

At Eyl, the ship was secured by more pirates — about 50 on board, and another 50 on shore.

But within days those who had boarded the ship developed mysterious health trouble.

This was also confirmed by Hassan Allore Osman, minister of minerals and oil in Puntland, an autonomous region of Somalia.

He headed a delegation sent to Eyl when news of the toxic cargo and illnesses surfaced.

He told one news publication, The Long War Journal, that during the six days he had negotiated with the pirates, a number of them had become sick and died.

“That ship is unusual,” he was quoted as saying. “It is not carrying a normal shipment.”

[/indent]

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Best case scenario is that they were getting rid of industrial waste inappropriately. Worst case, they were sending dirty bombs out. Either way, this may be the first step towards some serious unpleasantness.

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Madame Vengier

[quote name='Selah' post='1666540' date='Sep 29 2008, 06:38 PM']Pirates?

But yeah, this is bad. :ohno:[/quote]

Yep, pirates. They do still exist--a lot of people don't realize that. ;)

I've heard about North Korean pirates trying to sneak into SoKo waters and such.

Edited by Madame Vengier
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[quote name='Lounge Daddy' post='1666527' date='Sep 29 2008, 07:26 PM']What are the Iranians carting around in their ships? Somali Pirates have been in the news, most of the coverage here has been about US and Russian involvement in stopping the pirates. But this is something that hasn't been in our news in the States.

from [url="http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=851953"]The Times[/url]:
[indent]A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates.

Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.”

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.
...
The ship is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, or IRISL, a state-owned company run by the Iranian military.

According to the US Treasury Department, the IRISL regularly falsifies shipping documents to hide the identity of end users, uses generic terms to describe shipments and operates under various covers to circumvent United Nations sanctions.

The ship set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July. According to its manifest, it was heading for Rotterdam where it would unload 42500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by a German client.

At Eyl, the ship was secured by more pirates — about 50 on board, and another 50 on shore.

But within days those who had boarded the ship developed mysterious health trouble.

This was also confirmed by Hassan Allore Osman, minister of minerals and oil in Puntland, an autonomous region of Somalia.

He headed a delegation sent to Eyl when news of the toxic cargo and illnesses surfaced.

He told one news publication, The Long War Journal, that during the six days he had negotiated with the pirates, a number of them had become sick and died.

“That ship is unusual,” he was quoted as saying. “It is not carrying a normal shipment.”

[/indent][/quote]


I saw no mention of radiation

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[quote name='Madame Vengier' post='1666539' date='Sep 29 2008, 06:37 PM']A new form is Islamic warfare?[/quote]


Why do you go back to that?


This is not Islamic warfare any more than Israeli atrocities are the results of "Jewish tactics".

If this is true it is the [i]Iranians[/i], once again, commiting atrocities.

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[quote name='Hassan' post='1666570' date='Sep 29 2008, 07:21 PM']I saw no mention of radiation[/quote]

That's why I said industrial waste. There are lots of nasty things that can cause skin and hair issues. But then, I like to believe the best of everyone.

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[quote name='Old_Joe' post='1666668' date='Sep 29 2008, 10:47 PM']If it is radiation, aren't there now pirates with nukes?[/quote]

Not necessarily.

In order for a nuke to go nuclear, it must have a certain amount of radioactive material, called "critical mass". In order to achieve that, the purity of the radioactive material must be on the order of 90% pure (or thereabouts). Since uranium is naturally only 0.7204% U-235 (the isotope used in nukes), it must be purified heavily in order to reach that range. Most likely, if there was indeed uranium present on those ships, it was reactor grade, around 40%, I think. That's nowhere near the amount needed for detonation, but certainly more than enough to cause radiation sickness if exposed to it.

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Also, if my nuclear chemistry isn't rusty, it isn't so much the uranium that is the problem, as it is the thorium that is left behind from its decay. Uranium-235 is an "alpha emitter". Alpha particles are big and bulky, and are able to be stopped by little more protection than a sheet of paper, or clothing. Thorium-231, however, is a "beta emitter", and those guys are nasty. They can only be stopped by solid concrete, as I recall. And they wreak havoc on your body's biochemistry by injecting electrons where they shouldn't go.

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[quote name='Aloysius' post='1666680' date='Sep 29 2008, 11:07 PM']:pirate:

less than 10 days after International Talk like a Pirate day??? conspiracy!!![/quote]
Well, blow me down!

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Don John of Austria

[quote name='Hassan' post='1666571' date='Sep 29 2008, 08:25 PM']Why do you go back to that?


This is not Islamic warfare any more than Israeli atrocities are the results of "Jewish tactics".

If this is true it is the [i]Iranians[/i], once again, commiting atrocities.[/quote]


Of course becuase the Iranians don''t Claim to be the proper representitives of Islam. They haven't been haveeing a who can be more conservative than who contest with Saudi Arabia for 25 years now. The country isn't theocracy ruled by Shite Muslim clerics. HMMMM, I'm thinking if Vatican City did something people would be calling it Catholic Warfare.

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