The Great Pirates off the Somali Coast thread

[BigRed389]

Seriously, the sheer difficulty of boarding a big ass container/cargo ship like that, if armed and alert, would be enough deterrence to stop boardings.

If we had a nearby base, sounds like a good place for FFGs and PCs, maybe LCS crews to get some real good experience. PCs especially.

 

[mtsupilot09]

No one even needs to know the mercs are there. They should operate as crew members and if the shit hits the fan, they will show their stuff. The regular crew members wouldn't know, and the governments wouldn't know either. I'll be damned if I'm going to send $100 million worth of my stuff on my equally (or more so) valuable vessel with absolutely no protection. Makes no sense to me at all. And yeah, you're probably right, the captain's Glock wouldn't stand a chance against pirate's assault rifles.

 

[fc2spyguy]

You know, I would think the oil companies would have enough leverage to say "Hey, we're putting 25mm on our ships, if you don't like it, we'll sell our oil to someone else." I would think a couple of those with several trained people per gun would be enough deterrence.

 

[Flash]

No one even needs to know the mercs are there. They should operate as crew members and if the shit hits the fan, they will show their stuff. The regular crew members wouldn't know, and the governments wouldn't know either. I'll be damned if I'm going to send $100 million worth of my stuff on my equally (or more so) valuable vessel with absolutely no protection. Makes no sense to me at all. And yeah, you're probably right, the captain's Glock wouldn't stand a chance against pirate's assault rifles.

The crew members would know, and as a result the countries where they dock would probably know. International and local laws are usually not kind to mercenaries.

And they do have protection, it is called insurance.

 

[OUSOONER]

Wouldn't that be fitting if we sent the USS Decatur to deal with the pirates?

 

[Clux4]

Why does everyone feel sorry for the tanker industry. These folks are making the wad. If this becomes a problem they will address it accordingly with every means possible (read: Armed Escorts). The can pay host nation to provide security at Port and have someone else provide escort around. I am sure Blackwater lawyers are getting themselves familiar with international waterway laws. When they get their business going, insurance companies will discounts significant discounts and the merc industry will be the new thing.

 

[Gatordev]

I've said it before...a carrier is too expensive to cover this area. This is the perfect area for several small boys and their -60s. Wait, fight the mission they've trained for? Okay, crazy talk. I withdraw the statement.

I wonder if this is a result of other attacks being successful giving the pirates more money for tech and and weapons (AIS, radar, GPS).

I'm curious about your statement about AIS. If the bad guys had AIS, wouldn't that alert the tanker, since it would detect a CBDR? Or are you thinking it's use would be a "something's over there, turn it off and we'll go look/attack?" I guess that second part would make sense.

 

[DavidC]

Time to mount a few of these on the gunwales. Problem solved.

 

[Pags]

Sounds like a good opportunity for a carrier to park and get some practice plugging moving targets for the airwing.

Sounds like a great opportunity to put some helos to work.

...oops, gator beat me to it. either way, put the GAUs to work.

 

[Uncle Fester]

It wasn't that long ago that merchant ships were armed, for exactly these kind of shenanigans. There's nothing that says you can't carry arms to defend yourself in international waters. Might be some issues for Panama/Suez transit, but you can't tell me Panama and Egypt would rather lose the revenues than allow for deck guns and private security detachments; at least, as long as the guns are housed and sidearms put away during the transit.

 

[scoolbubba]

these guys aren't nearly as badass as jack sparrow.

way to be lame ass pirates, douchebags.

we ought to go barbary campaign on their candy asses and let the marines burn a few pirate villages to the ground.

 

[Shakey]

I'm no political expert, but the overall passive stance of the concerned nations seems a bit odd. Officially, Saudi Arabia, US, NATO, etc. say they're taking no immediate action other than just watching the situation. I'd think that some aggressive action would be warranted. If someone was trying to steal my car, I sure wouldn't just watch it unfold. Maybe I'm comparing apples and oranges...

 

[a2b2c3]

I'm no political expert, but the overall passive stance of the concerned nations seems a bit odd. Officially, Saudi Arabia, US, NATO, etc. say they're taking no immediate action other than just watching the situation. I'd think that some aggressive action would be warranted. If someone was trying to steal my car, I sure wouldn't just watch it unfold. Maybe I'm comparing apples and oranges...

From my understanding of the situation, they don't believe that military force will help. Political action apparently needs to ween these people off of piracy. Apparently they only came into existence by first defending their coastal fishing waters and then slowly built up as they realized that their captured boats and supplies could get money. Apparently being a "pirate" is now the cool thing to do in the coastal parts of Somalia these days...

The only thing the US Navy is doing is watching a ship that was carrying russian made weapons for some mid-east country. At least they're making sure none of those get out.

 

[KBayDog]

The only thing the US Navy is doing is watching a ship that was carrying russian made weapons for some mid-east country.

Out of curiosity, what are your sources for this information?

 

[onedge]

Why can't the SEALs just go get it back? I mean I am sure that there is a lot that goes in to an op like that but why not? Seems from my reading that that is what they are designed to do.