Also. These ships can easily outrun pirates, even though they are slower. Speedboats do not do well on the open ocean.

I figure the customs problem might be overlooked if they are registered with whatever country the ship is coming from. Obviously it would have to be more government controlled security then private shipping company. That way everything is legitimate.

In our case, to avoid customs problems and drug corruption, maybe they should carry qualified US government personnel on board, just in case. Much like we keep US marshalls on our commercial jet liners. Especially so with the intensified piracy going on in those regions.

Either that or we provide food, water, and medical aid, to the costal african countries so they'll stop robbing the crap out of any tanker that travels around them.. but thats only if they play nice. Boomsticks are a much better alternative. Smaller forces tend to learn a lesson or two after you pulverize the snot of them, IE the Iraqi army. (In before the elitists -- NOT al qaeda)

you do know that some countries would not be happy about having heavily armed ships coming into their ports.

well, the fact that it is US trained people may just make some countries even less likely to accept those cargo ships.

not to mention the reason the piracy happens is because greedy people get lots of money from it, sending aid to those countries isnt going to do much.

protip 2: vast majority of commercial shipping vessels are not american flagged, owned, or crewed.

And therefore suck.

the crew took the ship back

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090408/ap_on_re_af/piracy

All the points are true. Greenboy I hadn't thought about that fact either, good point.

A cost-effective solution springs forth

To date, every shipping company has paid the ransom and no-one has died. The Somali pirates have not yet killed anyone, from any ship from any country. Arming every boat will turn these seas into a bloodbath. And why the **** should you expect the crew of a cargo ship to be prepared to kill and die for their cargo? Do you expect a McDonalds employee to shoot it out with some robbers to protect the few dollars in the till? They're not attacking our 'rights', and your 'property' is not worth dying for. They're desperate young men from a lawless ****ed up country that know nothing except war. What do you expect?

Your ****ing bull**** kneejerk attitute would only result in slaughter.

It's nice Somalia has found an enterprise that they could be good at. Besides civil warring.

He's the ELITE WARRIOR after all.

Oh, I want to see the people in this thread who claim that cargo ships should be armed to the teeth actually duke it out with pirates with, you know, guns. If Somalian pirates were slaughtering people left and right on these various vessels, obviously extreme military or political action will be called in from the ships' respective countries. But seeing that the waters are a VAST place, combined with the fact that cargo vessels are always around as long as shipping is required, I can't imagine prepping every ship that goes on those areas to become combat-ready is a practical or economical solution to this issue. Is the cargo really that precious to die over?

No, the cargo isn't worth getting killed over. But then again, letting pirates run around and point guns at people for money...then encouraging the behavior by giving them the money and letting them go...is stupid. It just makes the problem worse. I'm not saying they should have Marines on every cargo ship in the area, and I'm not saying they need a GAU-8 on a turret on the boat (but thank you for that mental image, that is awesome.) And I'm not saying cargo ships should be "armed to the teeth" and where anyone would get that impression I don't know.

All I'm saying is that I don't like that mentality of "as long as I don't get hurt, I'll do anything you want." It gives the power to the people who take it by force. You say they can outrun them? Outrun them. Maybe crews in the region just need to be more vigilant about watching for pirates so they can avoid them. Keep someone on watch or something, I don't know, I'm no expert. Sitting back and accepting it because it doesn't happen very often is stupid.

P.S. isn't it the Navy's job to protect our shipping lanes? Why is their presence there so limited?

Maybe I feel this way because I'm in the military, but it *is* worth dying over. Not the cargo itself, but the principle of standing up for yourself is. Should a woman being raped not put up a struggle because the guy might hurt or kill her? Or should she kick and screm and piss all over herself to try and prevent it from happening? What ever happened to the mentality of "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute" In America? (If you don't know the reference, look it up)

WHAT!!!! and yet the Somalis still continue to do this in spite of the fierce resista... oh. wait. thats right, you said EVERY SHIPPING COMPANY HAS PAID THE RANSOM!!! damn, i might have to go into pirating. lets see... apparently very little amount of risk assumed by the pirate, to date 100% pay out. sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

and what the hell does the state of their country have to do with what our response should be toward them?
"oh the poor savages obviously cant help themselves, so who are we to stand in their way as long as no one is killed?" bull****!

The US is not entirely without blame for the current state of Somalia. Decimating a country's infrastructure and then pulling out all troops, leading to a long civil war and a lawless ungovernable state? Hmm, I wonder if we can learn anything from history.



I'm not saying nothing is worth fighting and killing for, but the mentality that everything is worth fighting and killing for is absurd and terrifying. And when you put it in the framework of 'defending our principles!', then that can be used to mean quite literally everything. You're left with a bludgeoning, disproportionate and violently stupid response to everything.

regardless of who's at fault for the state of the government, that doesn't make piracy perfectly fine. and it certainly does justify being complacent with it and just giving in to whatever they demand!

So mort-hog, what if I came into your house with a gun and told you to give me all of your money, and all of your stuff. And you do it, so you don't get hurt. How would that make you feel? Then let's say you call the police, who then do nothing about it. So, I come back a month later after you have gotten some more money, and some more stuff, and I take all of that, too. And again nothing happens to me. Do you see what I'm saying? It's not about the stuff or the money. It's about the taking. At a certain point, you have to fight for it. Again, i'm not saying we should just kill everyone who is mean to us. I'm saying that sometimes it seems like people have lost their will to fight injustice. Like it's someone else's problem, "not my responsibility!". I have a problem with that.

Edit: and what do you mean about the US destroying Somalia's infrastructure and then pulling out causing a long civil war....when did that happen? As I understood it the civil war and general unrest had nothing to do with us...we went in, tried to help, couldn't, and left. Where was the infrastructure decimation? This is an honest question, I am not well-read on it.

I'd be down for some 21st century swashbuckling. Too bad we don't have holodecks or something similar

Hopefully the pirates will learn their lesson.

Indian, Iranian Flags : Free game.
American Flag : Touch it and a ****ing battleship shows up.

I know there's a mercenary company that operates in the Moluccas Straits. They require a little bit more on their resumes than a strong desire to kick ***.

Not a battleship, a Destroyer. We don't have battleships anymore.

Battleship in the metaphorical a ship-for-battling sense, not the literal class.

We should just cover the outside of the boats with petroleum jelly.

That would be fun.

Crew them with ZOMBIES.

Hey what would happen if they sent a bunch of software pirates to sail those waters?

They'd sit around complaining about never getting laid and being too far out to sea to get good internet.

I don't think they would want to take the guns off the ship.

Depends. In this imaginary scenario, do I live on a boat in the middle of the ocean? And are you armed with grenades and rocket launchers?

Why should they let them do this? Why pay those lazy bastards money they don't deserve? Jesus.. I've never seen such a horrible attitude. Let's say I got mugged by knifepoint.. okay? You know what, I'm going to fight back whether or not I have a good chance of living. Atleast I could die with some dignity.

You would die over your wallet?

Not the point I was try to get at. I'm not commenting on how likely you are to WIN the fight. I'm talking about whether it's worth a fight at all, theoretically (hence the imaginary scenario). I mean, so what if I am armed with rocket launchers? How many times does this have to happen to you for it to be worth fighting?

I'm sure most of the people are told the cargo != lives and isn't worth getting killed over it. That said, if I knew I was going to spend a few weeks at sea and would be running the risk of piracy, I don't think I'd be unarmed either.


But back to the REAL anti-piracy method - maybe not zombies for the crew, but I think putting zombies in the hold with the cargo is a great idea.

Crew: "Oh noes! Pirates! I think you pirates better go check the cargo." *snicker snicker*

well apparently the captain of the maersk alabama tried to escape, but the pirates got him back...LINK

Really...

What's more "noble", dying over one incident or continue to live a productive life, possibly preventing future similar situations from happening?

No one honestly suggested that these cargo ships to be left without any plans or provisions to deal with pirate attacks. That's ridiculous.