Many of you have probably heard of the pirate hijackings taking place off the shore of Somalia. The question is, are these pirates actually capable of hijacking ships more than 100 times their size by themselves? Or is there something else going on that the media and government is not willing to tell us? I coincide with the latter of the two choices. Unprofessional pirates versus massive ships? These hijackings have apparently been going on for more than a year, surely superpower United States could defend against African pirates (In fact, 3 Navy snipers each killed 3 pirates that were holding Capt. Richard Phillips captive) - even if a ship could be captured, US forces could easily take it back. Because of the increasing threat of pirates, charter rates are increasing and insurance companies are increasing insurance premiums, which means more money for insurance companies. Or, these ships are captured, and the crew makes a claim, and gains a lot of money. Again, if it were possible for these pirates to get close to and board a ship, then take millions of dollars, wouldn't ship owners/ captains rather pay less and hire security for their ships, or buy a built in defensive net that can be deployed to defend the ship (I heard about this net on Discovery channel - which prevents pirate boats from getting close to the ship, and flips them over if they get caught in it). What are your thoughts?
Heres a story on a recent attack that was thwarted. FOXNews.com - Italian Cruise Ship Fires on Somali Pirates - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
These aren't pirates with cannon and eye patches... They're armed with Ak-47's and they don't always attack ships with legitimate defenses. They've boarded cruise ships in the past. Edit: Ah, fiery referenced a cruise ship attack. Also, how coincidental that the Maersk Alabama was heading for Mombasa, Kenya prior to the hijacking.
You guys/girls should really see this video. It more or less shows the point of view of the pirates. It's about a half-hour long, but it's a really good watch. Modern Day Pirates // Current
Ok, you probably won't believe me, but I talked to someone I know that works in the Pentagon, and this is what they told me about this subject. The pirates are extremely predictable, but there is still nothing we can do. They have charts and everything of when the pirates will make their attacks. In a few months, when monsoon season starts, the boats the pirates use will not be able to go out, and hijackings will drop. If boats could accelerate to 15 knots, the pirates would not be able to keep pace. The thing is, by the time the pirates are spotted, the boats do not have enough time to reach 15 knots. If the boats could take evasive action(i.e. zig-zag), the wash would capsize the pirates' boats. Again, it is not easy for such large boats to make maneuvers like that. At any one time, there are about 50 Navy ships in the Gulf, but the pirates still attempt hijacking. The Navy ships launch helicopters to try to dissuade the pirates, but we aren't gonna fire on merchant ships. We can't do anything about this problem until a working government is established in Somalia, but we aren't going back there. Remember what happened last time? There is really nothing the government can do. Ships can convoy, but that is up to them. Hiring private security would be an option, but the cost of that is transfered to consumers by way of raised prices. There really aren't any feasible options, other than to keep doing what we are doing, attacking the hijackers after they have taken hostages.
Ever watch that South Park episode, the one about Cartman and all those pirates? Yeah, that was a stupid episode. But funny. Why can't ships just make those wall things on the side higher? (talking about big cargo and tanker ships) and arm the crew with non-lethal weapons? I know there are flaws in my argument but bah, those are sensible options.
Most of these "pirates" are unemployed fisherman who can't feed their families because the fish are inedible due to neighbouring countries dumping toxic waste in their waters. Nobody gave a crap about the Somalian fishermen then. But now that some countries stand to lose money? "Oh no, we've got to take action". If the Somalian pirates were attacking other third world ships there would be no media attention at all. Man I hope this problem escalates.
UN tried to help out Somalians and other third world countries but look what that led to. War lords. And war. Don't forget about hunger.
There's not much backing your statement kid. The United Nations doesn't just give out currency and weapons to war lords and power hungry leaders, now do they? The UN is more commonly in direct contact to needy civilians, providing them with food and supplies needed to more or less survive. FYI, as long as there are mouths to feed, the piracy in places such as Indonesia and Somalia will never come to an end.
Yep. That video you posted was excellent, by the way. I recommend everybody watch it, it was actually quite entertaining. Hm, pirates? Yarr harr. I think they should start carrying some sort of self defense weapons on cargo ships. << not too sure about it though, because it could make neighboring countries suspect piracy/crime/war etc etc.
The fact is that we can't just "Give all the boats weapons to defend themselves" because there are thousands of hsips that go around the pirates territory, and if we just armed and protected the big ships, double, probably triple the amount of ships would be hijacked each year because they would attack small unarmed or protected ships, such as fishing boats, which would then take away from peoples actually edible fish, since someone above said most fish are inedible because of the ocean dumping.
Really, there's not much sailors can do to counter-act the pirates whom tote RPGs in their fishing boats. Wouldn't it be lovely to have one of those make contact with your cargo ship's hull?
First of all, its not pirate's territory. Also, your claim makes near to no sense. Because we defend more ships more will be captured? Great logic there bud. How does it take away from edible fish? Because we're not allowing big ships to get jacked and possibly dump oil ? Also, what is the fact supporting your claims? I say we air strike the malacca strait. Certification, I say. Gun restrictions on past history or common lineage.