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December 10, 2013 11:29 AM   Subscribe

Piratjagt! Discover what patrolling pirate infested waters off the coast of the Horn of Africa is like with the Danish Navy. (6lyt)
posted by allkindsoftime (13 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
via Jalopnik, apologies for not including in the OP. English subtitles are automatic on the link I linked to, as far as I can tell. If not, I'm sure we as a community are sufficient to figure out how to outdo youtube commenters in terms of effing sailors wives...
posted by allkindsoftime at 11:40 AM on December 10, 2013


Yarrr, see what deprivation and misery can drive men to do! Avast, ye mighty expression of first-world power!
posted by Think_Long at 11:52 AM on December 10, 2013


If the captions don't automatically turn on you can always fiddle with the settings in the lower right corner.
posted by Blasdelb at 12:02 PM on December 10, 2013


"Yarrr, see what deprivation and misery can drive men to do! Avast, ye mighty expression of first-world power!"

This is from the Captain describing his mission,
"We're going to be a part of the NATO forces and NATO uses the term "Piracy Disruption." And that can be translated into three words in Danish; Deter pirates, Avert Pirate attacks, Disarm pirates. [Actually three words in Danish] That is our main task. The mission. Also have to keep in mind that we are set to solve police tasks, so it's we who have the right on our side. And we will at all times try to plan our operations so that we don't come into those situations, - because it's not a goal in itself to fight pirates. But of course if that means killed pirates, its unfortunate but sometimes that's how it must be."
posted by Blasdelb at 12:10 PM on December 10, 2013


Whoa, the officer at 2:45 looks like Joe Jackson!

- - -
Last week I listened to the audiobook of William Langewiesche's book "The Outlaw Sea," the first section of which discusses anti-piracy operations. His point is that the ocean is so damn big, and boats are so small, that efforts to fight piracy are often definitionally impossible simply because of the scale of it all.

The rest of the book discusses other topics, and the whole is very good, though I found the long section about the 1994 Estonia ferry disaster especially upsetting when delivered in Langewiesche's low, urgent voice.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:31 PM on December 10, 2013


Of course anti-piracy efforts are all about protecting capital, and in a small way protecting sailors. But I have to say, having watched the first episode, that I thought the Danes were commendably humanitarian in their efforts. The interactions with the two non-pirate vessels were interesting, particularly when they gave the refugees a new engine for their boat, so they could continue on to the Yemeni camps.
posted by postel's law at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2013


Hookah's on deck.
posted by stbalbach at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2013


Having watched the second episode it becomes clear that they have engines on board to swap the more powerful (60hp) engines found on "fishing" boats with smaller (15hp) engines. They can still go fishing but won't be able to keep up with a tanker or merchant ship. Nice.
posted by nostrada at 2:54 PM on December 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Just finishing up the second episode now. This is pretty interesting stuff, and I'm wondering just how different things would be on a US ship.

Like I somehow doubt there would be smiliar handwringing by our soldiers about the circumstances that drives people to piracy, or that the captain would be embarrassed by the lack of morality of newspaper commenters in suggesting they just shoot all the pirates.
posted by danny the boy at 3:28 PM on December 10, 2013


Like I somehow doubt there would be smiliar handwringing by our soldiers about the circumstances that drives people to piracy, or that the captain would be embarrassed by the lack of morality of newspaper commenters in suggesting they just shoot all the pirates.

You wouldn't see this on many reality TV shows, or certainly on the news, because it wouldn't be a worthwhile headline.

Turns out there's plenty of humanity to be found in the US military, too. If you cared to dig around for stories, you'd find plenty of stuff about American ships on piracy patrols offering up aid and rescue out there on the waves to people who are allegedly our "enemies."
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:46 PM on December 10, 2013


Ok well I actually have watched multi-part documentaries that take place onboard American warships. So basically the US version of this show, which is what I'm drawing a comparison from.

This is not to say that the Danish show doesn't have a propagandist bent to it. It clearly does. But what American media tends to offer is one of two narratives: a critical one from a progressive/leftist perspective, or a congratulatory one, from a conservative perspective.

The Danish show is congratulatory from a progressive perspective.

See the difference?
posted by danny the boy at 4:52 PM on December 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


This is pretty interesting stuff, and I'm wondering just how different things would be on a US ship.

One thing I noticed was how much older the average Danish sailor is compared to the teenagers that make up the enlisted crew in Carrier.
posted by peeedro at 6:14 PM on December 10, 2013


Subtitles: "This is something they can't fix without new parts. Otherwise they would be fucked."

I was watching with the sound off and had to check to see if that was a literal transcription. Nope, they translated some Danish phrase into "would be fucked", in what from context seems to be totally accurate. That's some damn fine translating there.
posted by CaseyB at 8:08 PM on December 10, 2013


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