Pirates capture Dutch sailors with Coca-Cola on board???

[theBB]

Here is a paragraph from CNN's news article about the latest piracy incidents

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/05/07/somalia.pirates.foiled/index.html

A Dutch cargo crew in the Gulf of Aden wasn't so lucky Thursday, the maritime center said. The small cargo vessel was hijacked, likely by Somali pirates, while sailing west in the transit corridor. The crew of eight Dutch sailors, who had Coca-Cola on board, altered the craft's course toward Somalia, the center said. The crew is believed to be unhurt.

I don't get the significance of Coca-Cola on board. What am I missing here?

 

[Sun Baked]

I guess they either hate Pepsi, or work for Pepsi.

 

[SilentPanda]

The whole incident is probably a promotional stunt!

 

[Rt&Dzine]

The whole incident is probably a promotional stunt!

Or a new trend in product placement . . . now in news stories.

 

[localoid]

I assume the ship's cargo was Coca-Cola.

 

[theBB]

I assume the ship's cargo was Coca-Cola.

Even so, the article does not talk about the cargo of the other ships in the article. Besides, I doubt a whole ship would be filled with Coke bottles.

 

[iJohnHenry]

More likely that syrup ***** that they use in fast-food outlets.

 

[joepunk]

I can understand that a ship with tanks or food aide stuffs onboard is worth a mention in the news. But Coca-Cola?

I bet the pirates are secretly replacing the HFCS with cane sugar

 

[localoid]

Even so, the article does not talk about the cargo of the other ships in the article. Besides, I doubt a whole ship would be filled with Coke bottles.

The article did refer to it as a small cargo ship.

 

[ravenvii]

Maybe they mistakenly thought the cargo is coke.

No, not Coca-Cola, the other coke.

 

[Signal-11]

This makes no sense to me.

Coca-Cola is bottled all over the world. Specifically, there's several Coca-Cola plants in that part of the world. It usually doesn't make sense to ship Coke because it's more cost effective to just make the stuff locally. I used to drive by the Coca Cola plant in Nairobi and Kampala all the time.

And it tastes a lot better than the North American crap because they use real sugar.

 

[Abstract]

Maybe they mistakenly thought the cargo is coke.

No, not Coca-Cola, the other coke.

That's what I thought as well.

They heard there was a ship full of coke, went out to search for it, found it and took it over, and then realized that they really messed up.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

It's certainly better than water in dixie cups.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Why is it so hard to prevent piracy?

 

[xUKHCx]

Why is it so hard to prevent piracy?

The Oceans are huge, there are lots of ships, international laws are difficult in situations like this. To name but a few.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Perhaps if sailors thought the pirates had the Swine Flu that more steps would be made to prevent capture. Obviously, Coca-Cola on board isn't enough of a deterrent.

 

[localoid]

This makes no sense to me.

Coca-Cola is bottled all over the world. Specifically, there's several Coca-Cola plants in that part of the world. It usually doesn't make sense to ship Coke because it's more cost effective to just make the stuff locally. I used to drive by the Coca Cola plant in Nairobi and Kampala all the time.

...

Coke doesn't allow anyone to make their top-secret Coca-Cola "syrup" locally.

"The actual production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and then carbonate it before filling it into cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors." [Wikipedia]

 

[Beric]

Why is it so hard to prevent piracy?

If sailors carry weapons on board to defend themselves from pirates, the ship will not be allowed to enter many international ports. So cargo comes before safety. And sailors are forced to use water hoses to defend themselves from pirates with fully automatic weapons.

 

[Signal-11]

Coke doesn't allow anyone to make their top-secret Coca-Cola "syrup" locally.

"The actual production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and then carbonate it before filling it into cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors." [Wikipedia]

Oh. Hadn't thought of that. Interesting b/c I always associate the syrup with the fast food fountain cylinders, yet I knew that the formulation was top secret. Cool.

 

[theBB]

The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and then carbonate it before filling it into cans and bottles,

Almost every country has one of these bottlers, so there is less of a need to transport the actual drinkable product. The concentrate takes up much less space, so it just sounds quite unlikely to have such a large load of it to fill a whole ship.

Anyways, I hope the sailors are released soon. I've read that the hostages are released after three days on average, but it must be very stressful for their families nonetheless.

 

[localoid]

Almost every country has one of these bottlers, so there is less of a need to transport the actual drinkable product. The concentrate takes up much less space, so it just sounds quite unlikely to have such a large load of it to fill a whole ship.
...

Are you still in denial?

 

[JCastro]

We need to launch the SEAL Teams now!!! We can't have all that Coca-Cola falling into the wrong hands.

Seriously...I hope the hostages are released unharmed soon. I would have to differ with the three days of captivity average. There are some that have been held for years. They are typically held until the ransom is paid.

 

[theBB]

Are you still in denial?

Yes. It is so unfair that these guys get their dirty hands on our Coca-Colas. Our national pride is on the line. Time for a military intervention. This time they went too far.

 

[Eraserhead]

If sailors carry weapons on board to defend themselves from pirates, the ship will not be allowed to enter many international ports. So cargo comes before safety. And sailors are forced to use water hoses to defend themselves from pirates with fully automatic weapons.

No the issue is that if they have/use weapons the pirates are more likely to kill them.

 

[RedTomato]

Hmm. So what would a pirate do with a whole ship full of Cola syrup? I know!

Get the Ninjas over and have a slumber party!

"The actual production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and then carbonate it before filling it into cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors." [Wikipedia]

I've heard of this bloke who is able to drink any bottle of coke and identify where in the world it was produced. All the bottling factories use local water, which all tastes slightly differently. Apparently. After many years of practice no doubt.