Moderator: Cartographers
If I was going to spend time on a pirate map I'd rather do something using "fun" pirates - parrots and buried treasures and everybody saying "avast" and such. The Somali piracy situation is, in my humble opinion, too sad.joon wrote:Does some graphics/programming expert want to put together a Somali Pirates map? Could be the Gulf of Aden, Horn of Africa, relevant islands, port cities, and a few prized cargo ships and enemy naval groups.
I'd do it myself but I'm a graphic design idiot.
e_i_pi wrote:I'm a big fan of political incorrectness, don't get me wrong. But I think this map would really just be a weak Western impression of what's going on, and wouldn't fairly treat the situation. Honestly, does anyone actually know what's going on there? There has been very little real information coming out of that region for decades, all we know is what the media tells us, and it's hardly like they're at ground level. Sure, we hear about the piracy off the coast, it's infamous, but what do we know about who's behind it? What sort of assumptions would you be making? Would you really want to portray a potentially narrow-minded representation of an entire country?
The ships are siezed in the Gulf of Aden, not the Suez, which is Egyptian territorial waters. They come from Puntland, but allegedly get their weapons from Yemen.joon wrote:e_i_pi wrote:I'm a big fan of political incorrectness, don't get me wrong. But I think this map would really just be a weak Western impression of what's going on, and wouldn't fairly treat the situation. Honestly, does anyone actually know what's going on there? There has been very little real information coming out of that region for decades, all we know is what the media tells us, and it's hardly like they're at ground level. Sure, we hear about the piracy off the coast, it's infamous, but what do we know about who's behind it? What sort of assumptions would you be making? Would you really want to portray a potentially narrow-minded representation of an entire country?
I guess I'm not sure how this is political. The events and participants have been pretty clear cut. Commercial vessels coming through the Suez have been seized by Pirates based in Eyl, and a number of other Somali and Yemeni port havens.
Well, it's NATO that's been assisting with escorts, so you can include Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK as well. Also, Sweden, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Russia have sent ships. France has not officially deployed any ships as part of the NATO task force, but Somalia has allowed them entry into their territorial waters to assist in deterring piratical acts.The American, French and Indian navies have been patrolling the area and escorting ships through dangerous waters.
Furthermore, the situation is something that has ballooned out of control only in the past 12 months. Before 2008, only a handful of ships had been siezed off the coast of Puntland. The attacks are now spreading to the coast of Kenya.See? I made no "narrow" Westernized caricature of an entire country. Don't be so heavy handed (and I resent the implication that I or other Westerners don't understand the complexity of the situation. We're not all Sarah Palin knockoffs).
I said they come through the Suez - I didn't say they were being seized in the Suez. Where does the Suez connect? Eventually to The Gulf of Aden (which I believe I mentioned in my initial post).The ships are siezed in the Gulf of Aden, not the Suez, which is Egyptian territorial waters. They come from Puntland, but allegedly get their weapons from Yemen.
e_i_pi wrote:Then base the map on the geography, but don't typecast the region or the people there. The pirates make up roughly 0.01% of the population there, and there is not even a military campaign going on. You introduced this thread with talk of pirates, naval groups, prize cargo ships - I think this is a sensationalised view of what is going on there. How would you feel if someone made a map about Zimbabwe where you had to conquer all the white mans farms, or Afghanistan where you have to bombard all the ancient religious sites? A shameful series of recent events is hardly justification for tarring and feathering a region of the world with it.
