Avast there, me Hearties!

OK, here's the latest Piratical happenings in the GZG verse

August 20, 2202; The murky vacuum of lawlessness in the Rim continues to
affect interstellar shipping. An anonymous local businessman claimed that 15
gunmen
in three corvettes seized an NAC-registered vessel off Solaris 4 on 30
July. The vessel had been damaged by a Solar flare off the NavStation of
Bareda near Bossaso (in the Nebula of Adax). Sources in Puntland claim that as
many as 100 gunmen later boarded the vessel, whose crew and captain were
originally reported
to be from Free Cal Tex. Others claimed it was a NAC-registered
antimatter tanker with Oceanic Union crewmen.

The ship was then stationed 1.7 Megametres off the planet and one resident
reported
that the ship's captain was held under guard by a 16-strong militia gang
on
the 9th. The core group of 30 pirates belong to the Sibaq Roon sub-clan
of the larger Majerteen clan.

The NAC frigate HMS Cumberland launched a pinnace to have a look, but was
unable
to corroborate the reports - possibly because the pirates split into
small groups and sent to a number of different locations.

The vessel (capable of 11 g) had been heading from Dubai to Durban, South
Africa when the Somali gunmen boarded it. By 13 August, reports indicated that
the
antimatter tanker was IC- registered and Swiss-owned. The Jenlil, built
in February 2171 by J.J. Sietas Kg Schiffswerft GmbH & Co., went through
several prior name changes and was sailing to Sigma Draconis from 60 Ophiuchi
with an ESU crew.

On the 15th, the ESU People's Maritime Shipping Administration refused to
assume responsibility for the six spacemen who shipped out at the request of
the owner of the Jenlil, as well as its captain (a resident of the ESU colony
of Poti). The crew failed to sign the appropriate contracts and register at an
ESU People's Maritime Shipping Company shipping branch.

The hijackers reportedly kept raising the ransom (from CR 300,000 to 600,000
to 1,000,000) but communications with the gang was problematic and
negotiations slow. Swiss lawyers are currently negotiating with the pirates.

The UN fleet off Solaris is not allowed within 12 Megametres of the planet,
unless it's essentially in "hot pursuit". Meanwhile, a new contingent of NSL
Naval pilots and fighter mechanics arrived on the 16th to replace crews due
to be rotated out. -

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OK, that's over-complicated, and lacks verisimilitude. Too many messy
details, it would never happen that way.

But see below:

August 20, 2002; The murky vacuum of lawlessness in Somalia continues to
affect international shipping. An anonymous local businessman claimed that 15
gunmen
in three speedboats seized a British-registered vessel off northeastern
Somalia on 30 July. The vessel had been foundering in a storm off the village
of Bareda near Bossaso (on the Gulf of Aden). Sources in Puntland claim that
as many as 100 gunmen later boarded the vessel, whose crew and captain were
originally reported to be from the Ukraine. Others claimed it was a
British-registered
oil tanker with six Russian crewmen.

The ship was then anchored 1.7 nautical miles (about 3km) off the coast and
one resident reported that the ship's captain was held under guard by a
16-strong
militia gang on the 9th. The core group of 30 pirates belong to the Sibaq Roon
sub-clan of the larger Majerteen clan.

The British frigate HMS Cumberland put up a helicopter to have a look, but was
unable to corroborate the reports - possibly because the pirates split
into small groups and sent to a number of different locations.

The vessel (capable of 11 knots) had been heading from Dubai to Durban, South
Africa when the Somali gunmen boarded it. By 13 August, reports indicated that
the oil tanker was North Korean- registered and Greek-owned. The Jenlil,
built in February 1971 by J.J. Sietas Kg Schiffswerft GmbH & Co., went through
several prior name changes and was sailing to India from Greece with a
Georgian crew.

On the 15th, the Georgian Maritime Shipping Administration refused to assume
responsibility for the six seamen who shipped out at the request of the owner
of the Jenlil, as well as its captain (a resident of the Georgian Black Sea
port of Poti). The crew failed to sign the appropriate contracts and register
at a Georgian Maritime Shipping Company shipping branch.

The hijackers reportedly kept raising the ransom (from US $300,000 to $600,000