Somalia pirates taking ships- where was the on-board security?

[sAsLEX]

UN & IMO Policy is not to defend with weapons etc (as they believe this will piss off the pirates and they will butcher the crew should they get onbaord)

They promote using water canons etc to ward them off & to keep a good watch.

As far as Using Radars to pick up small vessels, it could be done if they had small radars on the bow and stern of the vessel of that size, but ship owners won't pay for it (though you'd think they would considering the worth of the cargo/ship) also, with only 2 MAX on the bridge at night (one OOW and an AB/IR) it could easily be missed on a RADAR etc.

-Indy

Little wooden dhows etc are very very hard to pick up in the environmental conditions encountered up near the NAG SAG and GOO on radar.

mmmm miniguns, some good footage on youtube of those little beasties.

Flag that manual crap. Block 1 B Phalanx. Will deal with any pesky missiles they send your way as well. A simple stand alone system that just needs some power and water and bob's your uncle!



Too bad there is a big waiting list for the buggers!

Nothin' say lovin' like a couple of rounds of 4.7.

Would go 5 inch myself!

I hear the questions why the navies of the world don't just sort them out... The Indian Navy just sunk a pirate ship...
.

And the INS Tabar (Battle Axe in English) is one floating arsenal. It was here a couple of years back (played them in football).

[Ixion]

So - we have it on record...

Ixion calling for the return of Maggie Thatcher......

(is there a touch of royal blue under that, oh so red, exterior, Les?)

Of course. I am unashamedly a royalist. And a Jacobite to boot. God save King Francis.

[R6_kid:Me]

Flag that manual crap. Block 1 B Phalanx. Will deal with any pesky missiles they send your way as well. A simple stand alone system that just needs some power and water and bob's your uncle!

You read my mind dude!

[sAsLEX]

You read my mind dude!

Yeah they aren't bad bits of kit really, though hot work up there.....

[laserracer]

i dont like guns......small ones that is this should do the job

[vifferman]

There was a nice wee article in The Harold this morning, about some pirates in 2 speedboats and a 'mother ship' (mofo boat?) trying to capture some merchant vessel. An Indian navy warship intervened...

Sounds like they were bringing a shotgun to a knife fight.

[Ixion]

..The supertanker, the MV Sirius Star, was anchored on Wednesday close to Harardhere, the main pirates' den..

So, they know the pirates den location! F'Gawds sake what is WRONG with these people (the international bosses). Just blow them up!. Personally, I'd say get the Yanks to drop a couple of those cruise missiles armed with a tactical nuclear warhead on them (I mean, what's the point of having nukes if you don't use them), but in this PC world the Greens would probably complain. So, do it the old way. Heave a couple of battleships (or the nearest modern equivalent) just off shore. Begin bombardment. Continue for 24 hours, or until gun barrels worn out. At end, survey smoking ruins and shoot anything that moves. problem solved. Worked well for centuries, time and again. How do people think we deal to the Barbary pirates? Turn the Russians loose on them, they ain't so squeamish. Mr Putin would fix it, fast.

[vifferman]

Yeah. Given that most navies at the moment have naff all to do aaprt from search'n'rescue, fisheries patrol, and boring routine stff, I'm sure they'd jump at the chance to fire up their armaments and Blow Shit Up. Good training for 'em.

[Reckless]

Well its a tuff call but the thing that comes to mind is "Zero tolerance"
It worked with plane Hijackings how many of those are there now! They sent in the SAS, risked the crew and customers, boarded the planes, but lost very few, and the message got through. The word will get back to them you simply die doing this piracy thing and it will stop.

Again tuff call! Big mess to clean up till they see the light! But I don't see much choice? Even crims realise its not worth doing if you don't get paid and there's a 100% chance of dying!

No doubt there will be many on KB that disagree but thats my thoughts?

[Swoop]

Yeah. Given that most navies at the moment have naff all to do aaprt from search'n'rescue, fisheries patrol, and boring routine stff, I'm sure they'd jump at the chance to fire up their armaments and Blow Shit Up. Good training for 'em.

I imagine that the Navy people who balance balls on their noses, would be itching to have a bit of playtime with said pirates.
It is their environment after all...

[Winston001]

Well its a tuff call but the thing that comes to mind is "Zero tolerance"

It worked with plane Hijackings how many of those are there now! They sent in the SAS, risked the crew and customers, boarded the planes, but lost very few, and the message got through. The word will get back to them you simply die doing this piracy thing and it will stop.

Again tuff call! Big mess to clean up till they see the light! But I don't see much choice? Even crims realise its not worth doing if you don't get paid and there's a 100% chance of dying!

Agree with your sentiments but not your example. Air highjackings have not disappeared, nor have bombs on aircraft. What has happened is the levels of security in the Western world have become huge barriers for wannabe terrorists/air pirates. Airport scanners, armed guards, explosive sniffer dogs, air marshalls, steel cockpit doors etc etc have all made such attacks impossible.

Not so in Africa, China, the "Stans" (former USSR), South America, etc. Small airliners are still bombed or highjacked, its just that we don't hear about them because Brad Pitt getting a pimple is much more important news.

[sAsLEX]

I imagine that the Navy people who balance balls on their noses, would be itching to have a bit of playtime with said pirates.
It is their environment after all...

Nah we much prefer not being allowed to play with our toys whilst the aussys et al get to use theirs.......


They were incredibly brave/stupid pirates to take on the Tabar.....

[Reckless]

Agree with your sentiments but not your example. Air highjackings have not disappeared, nor have bombs on aircraft. What has happened is the levels of security in the Western world have become huge barriers for wannabe terrorists/air pirates. Airport scanners, armed guards, explosive sniffer dogs, air marshalls, steel cockpit doors etc etc have all made such attacks impossible.

Not so in Africa, China, the "Stans" (former USSR), South America, etc. Small airliners are still bombed or highjacked, its just that we don't hear about them because Brad Pitt getting a pimple is much more important news.

My mistake. I hadn't heard of a plane stuck on the tarmac with the people being held hostage for ages??(even before 911 when the security was tightened). Because every time it happened they sent the boys in through what ever hatch they could get in. Teach me to assume!
Still think the only way to combat this piracy is "Zero Tolerance" hard on the innocent people caught in the middle though! How else pay up or mediate that's only going to promote the practice. Its a hard one, loss of life, loss of ships, environmental damage, we still have Hobson's choice in my mind though!

[Beemer]

All they need is a guy with an AK47 on either side of the ship, shooting anything that comes near it! Or a rocket launcher!

[geoffm]

"They'd" only do it (it being to sink a ship to say "fuck you" ) once, cos a pirate blown to kingdom come ain't going to do nothing again.

'S simple. They need boats to reach the ships. Track the boats to whereever they lurk. Send naval ships to bombard the boats, wharves, jetties villages and such like . Boats blown up and sunk, pirates dead, problem solved. Sheesh , Palmerston would have had it solved in a few weeks. Too much ponsy pussy footing around.

Simple answer - Convoyes and/ or map out a shippingl ane. Declare it a free fire zone - anything in there not identified as a good guy is a target...
I am sure the SBS would like some practice.
Given the known immorality of shipping owners, I can't help but wonder if there is a bit of ransom splitting between the hijackers and ship owners or agents, at the detriment of insurance companies..