Simviation Forums

The world has been putting up with this for too long.

If we kill a few more of them they might start to get the message.

I've often wondered why the shipping companies don't mount a few .50 cals on the rails around the ship.  These pirates show up in small, sometimes inflatable, rafts with some assault rifles.  A good rail mounted machine gun would certainly discourage them.

because quite simply, asking untrained men to operate said machinery is a task in itself, asking them to have to kill someone even more a task.
A lot now have armed security but it costs a fortune, and even then its no gaurentee as these pirates tend to work at night and despite what a lot of people think, are good at what they do.
The only real solution in my opinion is that military vessels need to be allowed the freedom to fire on any ship that has any appearance of a hostile act without the worry of some court somewhere then sending the whole crew to prison for doing their job. There's no reason for somali/ other fishing vessels to be further than a few miles from the coast, simply put a fair distance restriction on it. Any vessel sailing outside that line has to have some form of transponder or official communication to a task force, if it doesn't then to the bottom of the ocean it goes.

I doubt many sailors would back away when it comes to kill or be killed.  As for night time, etc., ships traveling in areas of known piracy should be on high alert with all available crew on deck doing lookout duties.  Give them NVGs to help at night.  The costs of a few machine guns and NVGs is a lot cheaper than losing a freighter full of cargo or one crew members life.

It's not the job of a merchant seaman to protect his ship. They have quite enough to do anyway. The whole idea of an armed merchant ship would be unacceptable in most countries.  As Craig says, cargo ships should be given a navy escort in areas where these pirates are known to operate.

The world has been putting up with this for too long.

If we kill a few more of them they might start to get the message.

No, they never will. That is the problem. People lack common sense.

It is great that he was rescued though.

8-)

I think that when they are captured they should be forced to watch Barney for 24 hours and to hell with the Geneva Convention! I'm sure there won't be any repeat offenders after that

I think that when they are captured they should be forced to watch Barney for 24 hours and to hell with the Geneva Convention! I'm sure there won't be any repeat offenders after that

...or, alternatively, be forced to suffer listening to the unbelievably annoying, brain-destroying Zoe Ball and her endless chatter, as this week's replacement to Ken Bruce, on Radio 2 at the moment...!

Now that has got to be the ultimate agony to suffer for any Somalian Pirate...

...(or anyone else listening to Radio 2 on the BBC)... ...!

Paul... ....!

... ...!

Or be forced to stay on "It's a Small World" at Disney for a week.

Or be forced to stay on "It's a Small World" at Disney for a week.

... One of my favorite rides Seriously

What about listening to Bj

[quote]I've often wondered why the shipping companies don't mount a few .50 cals on the rails around the ship.

In WW2 the British had Q-ships (A freighter) as decoys against U-boats with a ton of hidden cannons. Why not commision a few freighters with 50 or so Marines on them to give them a welcoming party

In WW2 the British had Q-ships (A freighter) as decoys against U-boats with a ton of hidden cannons. Why not commision a few freighters with 50 or so Marines on them to give them a welcoming party

That is a good question.

8-)

In WW2 the British had Q-ships (A freighter) as decoys against U-boats with a ton of hidden cannons. Why not commision a few freighters with 50 or so Marines on them to give them a welcoming party

So many reasons.
not least of which the armed forces are stretched thin as it is. Also you cant just dump 50 marines of a freighter, you need all the various other men to go with it. Then there are the legal sides to these things. It's not ww2 anymore, the flower loving hippies with their heads in the sand would take a dump the size of an elephant the moment word of this got out. We'd be then stuck with further protests in major cities saying we should leave those loveable pirates alone they're only trying to earn a living. And so on without getting too political.