Modern oil tankers are now double hulled in the event of an internal rupture. Steel outer plates would give in easily to an rpg or armour piercing round. Samali Sam works simply using small swift, high powered vessels (they can now afford the best since they have the first million in pocket), a VHF radio and come in undetected at night. Even if an SOS is snt out from the ship, the pirates are already aboard and the crew and ship held. Too late for the Naval forces to act, unless its a night drop by Seals or Special Forces to take them out, but the pirates probably have night vision so its now onto the ransom and the Somali's get another win. One more for the pirates.

The sea area is too vast to cover all areas despite the international coalition or armada against the pirates. Who knows, the pirates might have even gotten more sophisticated by watching ports of debarkation with known big loads. Its easy to tell a loaded ship, just look at the waterline!

So our pirates in a vast ocean hold the crew and contents ransom for the big dollars that will get paid. This is definitely a job for only one man on the planet.
JAMES BOND!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darn, if only it was sail and cannon fire.

Bob
Sailing my Catalina 30 in calm waters :D

i am attending the porschefest at PIR here this weekend with a real honest to god shipping magnate from greece. wont divulge name. met him in april at pca zone fest at calif mtr speedway. real cool guy. will ask him his take on things since he owns BULK CARRIERS. im sure insurance has gone thru the roof for vessels of this type becuz of somali wally!

im sure arming them is risky also fer a multitude of reasons!

wow who woulda thunk it in this day and age.


panzie ass saudis will cry to u.s. to help them and in the end panzi ass saudis will poo $100 dollar bills out their arse and pay the damn ransom and the cycle continues.


I REALLY LIKE THE "Q" ship idea! i'll hire on. no rules of engagement, no geneva convention crap. kinda like a "MERC OF THE SEAS" or being a "backward" pirate!

sign me up fer "Q" SHIP DUTY!

The way I see it is to wage war on the Somali Villages where these guys come from. No government, no economy we know of besides guns and piracy, no nothing. This is how they make there money and they are idolized and looked at as heroes in the villages. Simple fisherman turned into pirates, sort of like the Buccaneers of old, but the King is not paying them to pilfer, rape and plunder as of yet. They have found treasure and the job is easy.

You have to get them at the core. Anyone want to sail with me to Somali and raid the scabbards? Small arms, hold their woman hostage, establish a new nation and plant the flag for the Conch Republic! What adventure...............

Is that guy shooting prairie dogs? Whatever he's trying to hit I'm sure it's dead...

BREAKING NEWS NOW a IRANIAN OWNED CARGO SHIP STOLEN BY SOMALI WALLY!


hahahahahahaha. NOW ITS GONNA GET real good!

sign ME UP!

Couldn't the Navy use some target practice?

http://www.defencetalk.com/pictures/...ttleship-2.jpg

See, a clear sign that Global Warming is in decline!

ehm, who owns the crude? during shipping? the buyer, the seller, or the transporter?

The more I think about this, the more I think a different solution is appropriate.

Wal-Mart successfully reduced it's liability risk by aggressively fighting all lawsuits, frivolous or not. Many tort attorneys were turned off to suing Wal-Mart because of this. They knew they would not get a quick settlement.

Similarly, I think all crews that are attacked by pirates should scuttle the ship. The cargo is lost either way. If the pirates realize they cannot ransom cargo, they will stop seizing ships.

But then the crew will be in lifeboats that can't outrun or outgun the pirates... the pirates will slaughter them.

Might as well install some firepower on the shipping boats and equip those crews with nightvision so they can pick off the pirates at a distance, IMO.

More fun that way, too. :)

HELL NO DONT SCUTTLE THE SHIP! that will kill all the marine life for miles around. poor whales/porpoises/dolphinks/crabs/lobsters/nemos/clownfish/scorpion fish / rock fish/sea horseys.................etc.


instead of an enviromental disaster......................

BLOW THE FUCHERS OUTTA THE WATER AND BURN ALL THE MATERIAL and make it a diver destination vacation to view the sunken reef! wayyyy more phfun and beneficial to all sealife. and imagine ALL THOSE VACATION BUCKS going to SOMALI WALLY AND HIS BUCCANEERS! would keep dem off da welfare roles!

Anything that requires the crew to do anything other then crew the boat,will backfire
These thugs don't care about the lives of those on those boat, and if they are shot at, they will get even... They carry RPG's and heavy machine guns... What you think those on the boat can do, considering they are trained to work on a boat, not trained to do battle, not trained to think tactically, not trained to kill.

Piracy has been around for ages, and the tactics to defend ones self from piracy are too :
Escort ships, travel in convoy, have trained professionals on the boat for dedicated defense.

It all boils down to who's going to pay for it, shipping companies don't need the extra hit on their profit margin, shipping company customers don't either, nations where the boat is registered don't care, and the end-customer is already strapped for cash due to the credit crunch...
Insurance companies are lucky to still be in business after the last months, and at some point will either have to forfeit a bunch of moolah over some lost cargo's, the smart ones will start hiring mercs... and i'm sure a lot of veterans will rather take 3K a month shooting pirates then 5K a month risking IED's in I-wreck...


I'm sure there will be plenty more mayhem for the years to come

We know where these pirates sail from right? No more problems.

Yep.

Rather than trying to stop them from raiding ships, stop them from leaving port.

I think a few MOABs at a few ports would do the trick...

What do you think the crew care more about? Their lives or the cargo?

In many cases, don't they lose both? I don't think "hostage" is a great spot to be in.

actually the proespect of becoming a "hostage" is better then that of ending up "dead"

A hostage for ransom is generally well taken care off, is fed and kept healthy
since a dead hostage is worth nothing, and a live one is worth mucho dinero...

And considering they will get extra pay for the time in captivity, they have more reason to duke it out then to risk getting killed

What is the #1 rule for bank employees when faced with an armed robber?
exactly: comply and don't think of trying to do anything heroic. The bank is insured.


Res Ipsa Loquitur

the numero uno rule for bank customers, when in a robbery situation and bad guys have guns....................SHOOT FIRST!

rule numero dos..............empty CLIP!

rule numero tres.........reload and empty clip until threat gone.

rule numero quattro.......blow smoke from barrel !!!!!!


by arming these ships despite potential problems, it will serve a very clear message, in a language im sho they'll understand.....................

YOU CANT TOUCH DAT! or rick james will give you some bad mofo ju-ju rat a tat tat style!

IM RICK JAMES BEEATCH!

something tells me you think you're John Wayne...