Dealing with pirates

[D'ARTOIS]

At least I do, Skippy. And it is getting worth, particular in the Malaccan Street area.
But also the area between Indonesia and Australia. Look at the number of attacks!
Piracy is getting an increasing problem, negelcted by politicians - for they have nothing to gain in that corner.
If the pirates are throwing us back into the 18th century, answer them with measurements derived from that era.
Don't rely on local governments, they are absolutely not interested in your well being and are mostly the instignators of the forementioned sea-raids.

I remember me talking to a Russian captain of a 10.000 dwt merchant vessel who showed me his aresenal: from teargas grenades till .50 machineguns, alike the M.60 and no limits to use them when worse comes to worse.
They were often attacked by Nigerians when lying ahull near Port Harcourt, -
one or two handgrenades silenced them mostly off and Russian ships were avoided like the pest, when repeatedly welcomed by a string of bullets/grenades.

[mackid068]

I think anyone with a brain in their head would avoid *ANYONE* with an M60, providing they can fire it. It'd rip a fiberglass or wood boat to shreds, might not sink it but it can certainly (if a well placed shot were to hit there) destroy the engines, crew or gasoline tanks.

[Mikey]

The Malaccan Straight has been a pirate infested area for years. D'Artois attachment 1 shows 37 attacks from north Indonesia and 8 further south. I bet all of the 37 attacks were coming out of Indonesia. During how long time is that?

There has been rumours circulating for ages that influential pirate gangs get = bribe Indo military for info about suitable targets, don't know if it is true of course, could very well be.

It would be interesting to know how many of those, if any, where anyone on a pleasure yacht got hurt if he did NOT resist. For the Malaccan Straight area anyway, still think that pirates would not kill "if they didn't have to", they would just steal the things. Possibly very different in other places.

[woodboat]

Mikey, I too would be interested to see the statistics. Unfortunatly I read articles like this http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/...&oneclick=true what seems like Everday.
A blurb

Geoffrey Jin handed two service-station robbers his wallet, mobile phone and $200 from the till, but was killed anyway in an "unprovoked act of violence against a compliant victim", a court has heard.

[dionysis]

Its a difficult thing isn't it.

Arms may only scare off possible pirates who have less weaponry and who are perhaps opportunists, but probably will not scare off those who have more weaponry and are determined.

If you are armed, then you better be prepared to pull the trigger - this means go in hard and mercilessly. There is the rub - you will not know whether fireing was appropriate, and you will not be able to turn back once you have started. You may get away with it once and maybe twice, but sooner or later someone is going to die.

When all is said and done - is cruising worth a life - anyone's life? Think about it. While me may be living in the 18th century as far as piracy on the high seas is concerned, we need not act as if we were still living in that time.

I say avoid those areas in the first place and dispense with the gun thing. I may not be able to help where I live - say because of work or family, but I can sure choose where I sail.

As far as the breaking and entering kind of theft is concerned, by all means put up electric fences, dogs etc. No great harm is done.

Boycott every area that has a record of piracy. Do not travel in that area, do not visit those towns, do not go to their restaurants, drink their water, or visit their sites, do not transit their waters, etc. Simple eh? Authorities of those countries will sooner or later sit up and take notice, when they no longer get the tourist dollar.

I think a lot more could be done in the political sphere. If sailors were to be prepared to collectively boycott, work together to lobby companies, governments, tourist agencies, letters to the editor etc., something positive would come out of it. Why isn't piracy in the newspaper? Because noone makes it their business to put it there.

[shaperx1]

I will not travel anywhere on a boat without a gun or guns. I am a delivery captain and know people who have had pirates set them adrift in a dingy. And one of my friends was set a drift running the slot between Cuba and Great Bahama bank on his way to Puerto Rico. They would have to kill me to get my boat.
I carry 2, 12 gauge pistols and 3 1/2" buck shot and slugs. They are rechambered WWII flare pistols they have a strong enough action to hold the gas presures and you can still use them for flares keep one in my flare kit and 1 near me at all times under way.
My teacher at the captains school, him and his wife have circumnavagated the world 6 times and he says he would not travel without "guns" he has 2 shotguns that he takes apart and they screw to different places on his engines. He has some pretty heavy stories from the Indian Ocean and off of Columbia.

[dionysis]

Let me just add in reply to shaperx1, and I hope this will not be taken as an offence to the Americans on this forum. We must be carefull about taking the "right to bear arms" into international waters. This could lead to an "arms race". Furthermore - now that my dander is up -

Here I am sailing along minding my own business, a bunch of pirates comes over and kills me - just before I die I ask why they showed no mercy, and the head pirate says, because his little brother was killed recently by a very much augmented and clever shotgun blast at fifty yards. The barstards he said - my little brother only wanted the radio.

Tell me this could not happen.

I am not saying that evil people do not sail the seven seas. What I am saying is don't kill them, just starve them.

[428]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7203219/

[mackid068]

Dionysis, I'm not an advocate of "gun rights" (ie I oppose right to bear arms in most cases) but I feel that mariners on the open seas do have the inherent right to protect themselves. I bet that the best way to do this must be with flare guns, or at worst, a taser or "riot gun" that fires bean bags (or something of that nature, even though they CAN be deadly) Perhaps a pepperball gun or ball of some hard substance could be used in lieu of paintball pellets. Maybe, you could rig a 10 gauge shotgun shell rigged with 10 gauge shells filled with salt or some painful but nonlethal substance could work. How about a saluting cannon for scaring them off firing blanks or black powder?

[dionysis]

As I said, it is a difficult decision to make:

check this out http://www.noonsite.com/Members/doina/R2005-03-14-1

[woodboat]

I find it interesting that you put "intellectual" under you name yet oppose the right to bear arms. Are you being sarcastic and I am just missing it in the post?

[mackid068]

Intellectuals tend to support fact based arguments, ergo, I oppose the right to bear arms. Staticstically, for example, one who owns a firearm in the home is 37% more likely to use it to kill him/herself, a spouse or family member than a criminal (for self-defense).

[woodboat]

So you were serious then? Or you haven't really given it much thought.

[PowerTech]

Every thing you write anoys me some how kid.

[Wynand N]

Originally Posted by mackid068

Perhaps a pepperball gun or ball of some hard substance could be used in lieu of paintball pellets. Maybe, you could rig a 10 gauge shotgun shell rigged with 10 gauge shells filled with salt or some painful but nonlethal substance could work. How about a saluting cannon for scaring them off firing blanks or black powder?

Kid, fight fire with fire.
My question to you, will the pirates / gangsters load their weapons with the same to level the playing field
Or perhaps they will fire a saluting cannon with blanks or blackpower to get your attention....

Wake up to the real world.