Really weirdly positive puff piece, and an interesting choice to call an oligarch profiting off of a war by sending his employees into their very likely deaths a "bucaneer". I might be wrong, but...
Really weirdly positive puff piece, and an interesting choice to call an oligarch profiting off of a war by sending his employees into their very likely deaths a "bucaneer".
I might be wrong, but weren't bucaneers generally on the ships they commanded into danger, and not lounging around on their massive yachts docked safely in the Greek Riviera?
I believe "buccaneer" is another word for "pirate." It seems inaccurate even for the "dark fleet" (smuggling is not piracy), but it's not a positive term either. I think its use in this story is...
I believe "buccaneer" is another word for "pirate." It seems inaccurate even for the "dark fleet" (smuggling is not piracy), but it's not a positive term either. I think its use in this story is just careless.
I definitely got “loveable rogue” from the word choice - I think buccaneer in particular conjures Jack Sparrow at worst, but more likely Dread Pirate Roberts. My split second reaction was an image...
I definitely got “loveable rogue” from the word choice - I think buccaneer in particular conjures Jack Sparrow at worst, but more likely Dread Pirate Roberts. My split second reaction was an image of that kind of classic brash protagonist in fiction, doing what it takes to get the important work done because that matters more than your rigid rules, goddammit!
And then I asked myself that very same question as the top comment: is he putting himself in danger to do important work because he believes in it? Or is he putting his employees in danger and taking his cut of the profits?
They were also oppressed people. The "golden age of sail" was full of things like navy press-ganging (literally kidnapping people off the street and forcing them to serve on ships) and the...
They were also oppressed people. The "golden age of sail" was full of things like navy press-ganging (literally kidnapping people off the street and forcing them to serve on ships) and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The reason the Caribbean was important was because it was full of slave plantations producing sugar, rum and tobacco.
So, many pirates were mutineering sailors, escaped slaves and other such types who had little options other than to become murdering thieves...because they were going to be killed or enslaved one way or another.
As always, history is written by the capitalist and imperialist exploiters.
Yes, sometimes the oppressed become oppressors themselves. History is terrible! But that historical context shouldn't be used to whitewash murder. Sometimes if you know the full story it might be...
Yes, sometimes the oppressed become oppressors themselves. History is terrible! But that historical context shouldn't be used to whitewash murder. Sometimes if you know the full story it might be understandable as someone acting in a terrible system.
Piracy is a system built on using violence to achieve financial gain. Sometimes even with a veneer of state sponsorship.
Sometimes, there were no good guys; both sides were oppressors by modern standards.
As Iranian missiles streaked over the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, bringing traffic across one of the world’s most vital trade lanes to a near halt, one Greek billionaire was steering his ships straight into the turmoil.
Dynacom Tankers, owned by 79-year-old George Prokopiou, has sent at least five tankers through the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Gulf since the outbreak of war with Iran on Saturday, making it one of a handful of legal operators willing to brave the journey.
[...]
There are big rewards on offer. Freight rates for tankers leaving the Gulf have more than doubled since Friday, hitting record highs. A single very large crude carrier (VLCC) making the perilous voyage across the strait and into China would earn about $500,000 in revenue per day, excluding the cost of additional war-risk insurance, according to price-reporting agency Argus.
While the risks for the owners are money and tankers, the sailors onboard are putting their lives on the line. Iran has threatened to set any ships attempting the passage “on fire”, hitting at least nine since the conflict began with at least three seafarers killed.
All of Dynacom’s vessels turned off their transponders, devices that automatically transmit a vessel’s location and identity, for their passage through the strait.
[...]
“He’s an industry legend and one of those people that does what we call ‘premium’ business,” said one ship broker who has worked with Prokopiou’s companies in recent years, using a euphemism for trades that are legal but carry much higher risks.
Prokopiou’s Dynacom Tankers has moved tens of millions of barrels of Russian crude oil over the past year and is one of the biggest lifters of the cargo since Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine in early 2022, according to FT analysis of Kpler data and ship ownership records.
[...]
Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention put Dynacom Tankers on its list of “international sponsors of war” for its role shipping Russian crude, accusing it of “replenishing the budget of the aggressor country and financing the Russian invasion”. However, in 2023 it withdrew Dynacom from the list and in 2024 withdrew the list altogether, following pressure from its overseas partners.
This has strong "many of you will die, but that is a risk I'm willing to take" vibes to it. Gambling with worker's lives and being called a "buccaneer" as if you're on the ship.
This has strong "many of you will die, but that is a risk I'm willing to take" vibes to it.
While the risks for the owners are money and tankers, the sailors onboard are putting their lives on the line. Iran has threatened to set any ships attempting the passage “on fire”, hitting at least nine since the conflict began with at least three seafarers killed.
Gambling with worker's lives and being called a "buccaneer" as if you're on the ship.
Really weirdly positive puff piece, and an interesting choice to call an oligarch profiting off of a war by sending his employees into their very likely deaths a "bucaneer".
I might be wrong, but weren't bucaneers generally on the ships they commanded into danger, and not lounging around on their massive yachts docked safely in the Greek Riviera?
Yeah, fuck this callous capitalist. You shouldn't get the fun name if your neck isn't also on the line.
I believe "buccaneer" is another word for "pirate." It seems inaccurate even for the "dark fleet" (smuggling is not piracy), but it's not a positive term either. I think its use in this story is just careless.
Not only is buccaneer another word for pirate, but it is geographically specific. A buccaneer is a pirate operating in the Caribbean Sea.
One who makes boucan, or barbecue, no less.
As far as I'm aware, the only billionaire twit known for smoking meats is Zuckerberg.
Ah yes the normal human activity of meat smoking.
I definitely got “loveable rogue” from the word choice - I think buccaneer in particular conjures Jack Sparrow at worst, but more likely Dread Pirate Roberts. My split second reaction was an image of that kind of classic brash protagonist in fiction, doing what it takes to get the important work done because that matters more than your rigid rules, goddammit!
And then I asked myself that very same question as the top comment: is he putting himself in danger to do important work because he believes in it? Or is he putting his employees in danger and taking his cut of the profits?
I try to remember that, despite the way they come across in fiction, pirates were actually murdering thieves.
They were also oppressed people. The "golden age of sail" was full of things like navy press-ganging (literally kidnapping people off the street and forcing them to serve on ships) and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The reason the Caribbean was important was because it was full of slave plantations producing sugar, rum and tobacco.
So, many pirates were mutineering sailors, escaped slaves and other such types who had little options other than to become murdering thieves...because they were going to be killed or enslaved one way or another.
As always, history is written by the capitalist and imperialist exploiters.
Yes, sometimes the oppressed become oppressors themselves. History is terrible! But that historical context shouldn't be used to whitewash murder. Sometimes if you know the full story it might be understandable as someone acting in a terrible system.
Piracy is a system built on using violence to achieve financial gain. Sometimes even with a veneer of state sponsorship.
Sometimes, there were no good guys; both sides were oppressors by modern standards.
https://archive.is/dEtyl
From the article:
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[...]
[...]
Braving? More like Stupiding
This has strong "many of you will die, but that is a risk I'm willing to take" vibes to it.
Gambling with worker's lives and being called a "buccaneer" as if you're on the ship.