[Rhodes22-list] Breaking News : Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup

Sat Nov 29 12:41:27 EST 2008

About the scarcity of usa-flagged vessels:
Perhaps "flags of convenience" will become
inconvenient...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_convenience

"A specific example of the type of advantage
flying a flag of convenience offers is
bypassing the 50% duty the United States
government charges on repairs performed on
American-flagged ships in foreign ports."

Protectionism?

Perhaps we shot ourselves in the foot - but
perhaps some (Exxon?) will choose to pay rather
than running around the Horn.

Wonder where Lloyds of London is on this issue?

/Robert

brad haslett wrote:
> Robert,
> 
> Ah yes, Jefferson got tired of that crap and the Marines put a stop to it.  There's only one small problem with your theory, there are few US flagged vessels plying the seas these days. Hmmmmm, maybe if we imposed a "surcharge" for the US Navy to keep the sea lanes open and allowed foreign ships to fly our flag as an honor, we could retire our debt and lower our taxes.
> 
> Nah, not "touchy-feely".
> 
> Brad
> 
> 
> --- On Sat, 11/29/08, Robert Skinner <Robert at squirrelhaven.com> wrote:
> 
>> From: Robert Skinner <Robert at squirrelhaven.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Breaking News : Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup
>> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>> Date: Saturday, November 29, 2008, 9:09 AM
>> Have the Somalis touched a USA-flagged vessel yet?
>>
>> "... to the shores of Tripoli..."
>>
>> Just ask for volunteers.  Problem removed.
>>
>> /Robert
>> ---------------------------------------------------
>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>> Bill,
>>>
>>> Let's give the pirates a shot, they couldn't
>> do any worse.  What's
>>> that German word for "things will improve once we
>> elect 'The One"?  Oh
>>> yeah, 'hopenchangen'.  Attached is what the
>> Germans have in mind.
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> -------------
>>>
>>>
>>> 11/25/2008 04:56 PM
>>> A NEW WAR ON PIRACY?
>>> Germany to Deploy Up to 1,400 to Fight Pirates
>>>
>>> The uproar over pirates off the Gulf of Aden has led
>> the German
>>> government to contribute a naval frigate to an EU
>> mission along the
>>> Somali coast. More soldiers may be on the way. In the
>> meantime German
>>> helicopters have defended a pair of merchant ships
>> from pirate
>>> speedboats.
>>>
>>> As European enthusiasm for the American-led "War
>> on Terror" continues
>>> to wane, Europe is assembling a substantial military
>> force to send to
>>> the Gulf of Aden. Call it the "War on
>> Piracy" -- and Germany, this
>>> time, has not been shy.
>>>
>>> Although the German Defense Ministry refuses to
>> confirm the number, a
>>> report on Tuesday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine
>> Zeitung says that the
>>> government is considering deploying up to 1400 troops
>> to combat Somali
>>> piracy. By way of comparison, Berlin currently
>> contributes about 3,500
>>> troops to the war in Afghanistan.
>>>
>>> The government has already announced its intention to
>> send a frigate
>>> to region as part of the EU mission "Operation
>> Atalanta," which is set
>>> to deploy sometime in mid-December. First, however,
>> Germany's
>>> parliament may have to expand the country's legal
>> mandate for the use
>>> of force, which some believe does not currently allow
>> for an
>>> aggressive anti-pirate mission.
>>>
>>> In addition to the 500 sailors who would staff the
>> frigate, the
>>> government may also send troops to serve as security
>> forces on German
>>> trade vessels.
>>>
>>> According to the East African Seafarers'
>> Assistance Program, Somali
>>> pirates hijacked yet another ship over the weekend,
>> this time a Yemeni
>>> freighter called the Amani.
>>>
>>> And on Sunday afternoon, the German navy received
>> emergency calls from
>>> a pair of German merchant ships indicating they were
>> being attacked by
>>> pirates in speedboats. In response, the German frigate
>>> Mecklenberg-Vorpommern sent naval helicopters to
>> scene, after which
>>> the pirates reportedly fled.
>>>
>>> Somali pirates are thought to be in possession of a
>> dozen ships and
>>> over two hundred captured sailors. Among the captured
>> vessels is a
>>> Saudi Arabian tanker called the Sirius Star, which the
>> pirates are
>>> trying to ransom to the tune of $15 million (€11.6
>> million). This
>>> represents a discount from their original demand of
>> $25 million.
>>> cpg -- with wire reports
>>>
>>> URL:
>>>
>>>     *
>> http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,592647,00.html
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 7:40 AM, Bill Effros
>> <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>>>> Breaking News : Somali Pirates in Discussions to
>> Acquire Citigroup
>>>> By Andreas Hippin
>>>>
>>>>   November 28 (Bloomberg) -- Somali Pirates,
>> renegade Somalis known for
>>>> hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden,
>> are negotiating the
>>>> purchase of Citigroup.
>>>>
>>>>  The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and
>> their existing cash
>>>> stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking
>> numerous ships,
>>>> including a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker.
>> The Somali pirates
>>>> are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup,
>> pirate spokesman
>>>> Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations
>> have entered the final
>>>> stage, Ali said.  ``You may not like our price,
>> but we are not in the
>>>> business of paying for things. Be happy we are in
>> the mood to offer the
>>>> shareholders anything."
>>>>
>>>>   The pirates will finance part of the purchase by
>> selling new Pirate
>>>> Ransom Backed Securities.  The PRBS's are
>> backed by the cash flows from
>>>> future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf
>> of Aden.  Moody's and
>>>> S&P have already issued their top investment
>> grade ratings for the PRBS's.
>>>>    Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu , said "we
>> need a bank so that we have
>>>> a place to keep our ransom money.  Thankfully, the
>> dislocations in the
>>>> capital markets has allowed us to purchase
>> Citigroup at an attractive
>>>> valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital to
>> grow the business at
>>>> an even faster rate."
>>>>
>>>> Shandu added, "We don't call ourselves
>> pirates. We are coastguards and
>>>> this will just allow us to guard our coasts
>> better."
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