Somali Pirates Take Hostages 索马里海盗扣押人质
You might have been forgiven for thinking that piracy on the high seas was the stuff of Hollywood movies or historical novels, but Somali pirates have made 92 attacks this year,resulting in36 successful hijackings.
Their most audacious and significant attackto datecame on Saturday with the capture of the Saudi-owned Sirius Star and its crew of 25 (including two Britons) which was taken 450 nautical miles (830km) off the coast of Kenya.
The move was described as "unprecedented" by the US Navy due to the size of the vessel and the distance of the attack from the pirates’ usual theatre of operations;the Sirius Star is the biggest ship taken by pirates so far, weighing three times more than an American aircraft carrier and capable of carrying 2m barrels of oil, valued at around $100m (683m Yuan).
The pirates, who are often armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, usually hijack ships in the Gulf of Aden using powerful speedboats to approach merchant ships which they board using grappling hooks and rope ladders.
Once the crew has been taken hostage, the pirates direct the ship to a port in Somalia where the crew and boat are held until a ransom is paid. There are currently 14 ships and 268 crew being held in pirate-friendly Somali ports.
Given that senior UN officials estimate that the pirates earn more than $100m (683m Yuan) a year from ransom payments made by ship owners, many ask why more military interventions don’t take place.
NATO warships are in the area but US Navy officials have told the BBC they can "not be everywhere". That said, an Indian Navy frigate attacked and sank a Somali pirate 'mother ship' on Wednesday morning after coming under fire.
Most hijackings, however, do end peacefully although it can be a lengthy process. On Wednesday the Hong Kong ship MV Great Creation and its crew of 25 Chinese and one Sri Lankan were released after two months of captivity.
如果你认为公海上的海洋大盗仅仅是好莱坞电影的场景或历史小说的题材,这或许可以原谅。但是实际上,今年索马里海盗已经实施了92次袭击,成功地劫持了36艘船只。
目前为止,他们最为猖狂的袭击事件发生在周六,他们劫持了沙特“天狼星”号油轮及船上25名船员(其中包括两名英国人)。位置在距离肯尼亚海岸450海里处(830KM)。
由于这艘油轮非常巨大,而且远离海盗通常的袭击区域,此举被美国海军描述为“前所未有的”。“天狼星”号是目前为止海盗劫持的最大的船只,重量比美国航空母舰高三倍以上,能够运载2兆桶原油,价值100兆美元(683兆人民币)。
海盗通常持有AK-47和火箭推进榴弹,在亚丁湾一带活动,使用大功率快艇接近商船,然后使用钩锚和绳梯登上船只,对其进行劫持。
一旦船员被劫持,海盗会将船只行驶到索马里一个港口,船员和船只一直被劫持至缴纳赎金。现在,海盗的避风港索马里港口劫持着14艘船只,268名船员。
联合国高级官员评估,海盗每年可以赚取100兆美元的赎金,许多人问为什么不进行更多的军事干预。
北大西洋公约组织舰艇已经在该地区巡逻。但是美国海军官员告诉BBC,他们不可能做到“无处不在”。据称,周三早上,印度海军护卫舰袭击了索马里海盗一艘母船,母船着火后沉没。
然而,大部分劫持事件都能以和平的方式解决,尽管过程比较漫长。周三,香港货轮MV GREAT CREATION及25名中国船员和1名斯里兰卡船员在被劫持两个月后获释。
hijackings 劫持
audacious 放肆的,大胆的
Saudi-owned 沙特阿拉伯籍的(油轮)
crew 全体船员
navy 海军
vessel 船只
theatre of operations 战域,战区
aircraft carrier 航空母舰
barrels of oil (2百万)桶原油
rocket-propelled grenades 火箭推进榴弹
powerful speedboats 大功率的快艇
board 登船
grappling hooks 钩锚
taken hostage 被当作人质扣押
port 港口
ransom 赎回
military interventions 军事干涉
NATO warships 北大西洋公约组织舰艇
mother ship 母舰
1.but Somali pirates have made 92 attacks this year, resulting in 36 successful hijackings.
result in导致,结果是
例句:The game resulted in another victory for our team.
比赛结果, 我们队又获胜了。
The flood resulted in a considerable reduction in production.
这次水灾造成相当大的减产。
2.Their most audacious and significant attack to date came on Saturday with the capture of the Saudi-owned Sirius Star and its crew of 25 (including two Britons) which was taken 450 nautical miles (830km) off the coast of Kenya.
to date至今, 直到今天, 到目前为止
例句:To date he has done half the work.
至今他已完成这项工作的一半。
3.the Sirius Star is the biggest ship taken by pirates so far, weighing three times more than an American aircraft carrier and capable of carrying 2m barrels of oil, valued at around $100m (683m Yuan).
three times more than倍数的比较
1) 主语 谓语 X times as adj. as
这个句型译为:① A…是B的X倍(或净增加X-1倍).
例如:This pen (A) is twice as expensive as that pen (B).
这只钢笔(A)的价格是那只钢笔(B)的2倍。(即A比B贵一倍)
I have three times as many as you. 我有你三倍那么多。(我的比你的多两倍)
This box is four times as heavy as that box. 这个盒子比那个盒子重4倍。
2)主语 谓语 X times the size (amount, width, breadth, level, value, velocity, length…) of…
这个句型表示净增加“1倍,是…的2倍”例如:
The earth is 49 times the size of the moon. 地球是月球大小的49倍。
3)主语 谓语 X times 形容词(副词)比较级 than…
这个句型表示的数为净增加数。例如:
The grain output is one time higher this year than that of last year.
今年比去年粮食产量增加一倍。
4)还可以用by 倍数,表示增加多少倍
The production of grain has been increased by four times this year.
今年粮食产量增加了4倍。
4.Given that senior UN officials estimate that the pirates earn more than $100m (683m Yuan) a year from ransom payments made by ship owners, many ask why more military interventions don’t take place.
given(that)一"在有……的情况下;如果有……;假定……;考虑到……":Given good health,I hope to finish the work this year.如果健康状况良好,我希望今年完成这项工作。I'd come and see you in Austria,given the chance.如果有机会,我就到奥地利来看你。Given their inexperience/that they are inexperienced,they've done a good job.考虑到他们缺乏经验,他们的工作还是做得不错的。(given的这一用法考试频度也很大)