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Kill rats and show off Coast Guard firepower, senator says
What do you do with a rat-infested, stateless pirate fishing vessel? Blow it up to show off the firepower of the Coast Guard's newest, toughest cutters, a U.S. senator says.
Crew from the Coast Guard cutter Munro seized the Bangun Perkasa, which was not operating under a national flag, 2,600 miles off Alaska in September after it was suspected of engaging in fishing with drift nets on the high seas, according to the Coast Guard. Drift net fishing is illegal because the nets indiscriminately kill massive amounts of fish and other marine life such as endangered whales and turtles.
The vessel was found to have been using 10 miles of drift nets and had 22 tons of squid and 30 shark carcasses aboard, the Coast Guard said. The fishing boat and its crew of 22 were towed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands.
And that's when the Coast Guard found evidence of rats on board.
Ships with rats aboard are not allowed into Alaska ports, so the Bangun Perkasa sits at anchor three miles out of Dutch Harbor. Its crew is in custody ashore.
But the rats are still aboard, and Democratic Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska says they should be dispatched to the deep along with the ship and its drift nets.
“It would send an unambiguous signal that pirate fishing is unacceptable to the United States and will not be tolerated. It will prevent this rust bucket from ending up back on the market where it most likely would only fall into the hands of some other pirate," Begich said in a statement.
Shelling the vessel would also give the Coast Guard a chance to show off its newest ships, the National Security Cutters, the senator said.
“In addition to solving the rat problem, using the Bangun Perkasa for gunnery practice could demonstrate the advanced firepower of the Coast Guard’s new National Security Cutters,” Begich said in his statement.
The Coast Guard deployed the new National Security Cutters, the Bertholf and the Waesche, last year.
The Coast Guard deployed its first two National Security Cutters, the Bertholf, and the Waesche, last year. Three more are in the works. The new cutters replace 40-year-old High Endurance Cutters at a time when the service faces new missions.
The new cutters have a crew of 113, a range of 12,000 miles, a helicopter flight deck and small-boat launch platform, and their command-and-control systems permit increased interoperability with the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, the Coast Guard says.
In a release announcing the capture of the Bangun Perkasa, Rear Adm. Cari Thomas, the Coast Guard director of response policy, saluted the 40-year-old Munro and hailed the arrival of the new ships.
“This case demonstrates how our cutters and crews allow the United States to maintain constant vigil far from the U.S. mainland and reflects the value of having a maritime service that can protect U.S. interests including the environment, security and safety regionally and globally,” the admiral said.
“Our high endurance cutters routinely operate from South America to the Bering Sea conducting alien migrant interdiction operations, domestic fisheries protection, search and rescue, counternarcotics and homeland security operations for extended periods of time. The Munro, and cutters like it, are more than 40 years old and slated for replacement. National Security Cutters that are faster, better equipped, more durable, safer and more efficient than their predecessor, will continue to ensure U.S. interests are protected today and for decades to come.”
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Not a bad plan, but what about the diesel fuel aboard? I'm sure Alaskans would rather not have that around.
Maybe the Ketchikan yard would take it for scrap?
We dont want no stinkin' crap in our scrap 😉
The article didn't say anything, but I wonder what kind of detection and offence it has for subs, you know, like drug smuggling subs. The drug cartel brag that their subs can operate 30 feet under the surface.
Killing these rats would only make us look bad in the eyes of other rats. It would actually encourage further rat activity. Rats already hate us enough because of our recent anti rat policies and our unquestioning support of Israel. It is time for a more balanced world rat policy.
Which is also why you are called Bimbo the Birthday Clown. You are, "The Tool of The Day".
Why am I not surprised that someone named "Zeke" doesn't get sarcasm?
hahahaha.. love it.
shove it zeke.
Bimbo the Birthday Clown in 2012!
Bimbo you just made me spit milk out my nose!
Post of the day.
zeeeekkkkeeee i once hated a kid with that name. come to think of it, he was a tool, too.
the rat joke was funny, so suck it.
EXCELLENT!!!!!!
@Bimbo the Birthday Clown:
Well played, sir!
We got enough rats on land. Don't need any more. So blow the thing up!!!!
@mad ole lady:
Hey! How have you been?
How's your Hovercraft with the spinners?
@zeke:
BtBC was kidding...sarcasm, don't you know.
Drain the fuel and sink that POS!
How much do the shells cost on that boat? Instead of wasting them, find cheaper rounds... then get rid of it!!
welcome those great new cutters, take that rat infested ship and sink it in the deepest part of the sea.
Merebear, that's a great idea, except unfortunately, he's not eligible....
Cheap rounds you say? How about some ammo that is worth millions and billions? The big wigs drawing all of the million and billion dollar bonuses sound like cheap rounds worthy of sinking a rat infested ship. Load em into torpedo tubes and fire away.
Can I bring my staff on board to see our relatives befire we waste them? We can clean up the mess with the new jobs I am creating. Oops, I lied again. Vote for me or you are a racist.
Actually, I am surprised at you Mr President. Why don't you just look the other way on this like your other relatives living in America illegally, and just let the rats enter?
Cool. Can we put Bachmann, Perry, and Palin on board too?
.....sure, you can be the ship's capt. Prof !
First, legally condemn the ship. Then consign it to the deep.
Can rats swim 3 miles? Alaska may have a problem if they can
They'd freeze to death first. Then come spring.....all the polar bears could have Ratatouille popsicles 😉
Make them swim to Rat Island. Seriously, Alaska has an island called Rat Island.