Pirate Mercs

[powerabout]

your escorts will be big mies as the first part is being done by the navys ecsorts its after this where the boats are being grabbed as there is no more navy.
So you might need to go almost to the Seychelles.
I'll try to find a picture of the convoy route

doesn't matter the source - some guy writing sailing notes I saw;
Piracy around the Seychelles - Our Departure Convoy
Created by sue. Last modified on 2009-06-05 17:29:14
Contributors:
Topic: Piracy
Countries: Seychelles


See Dominique's pre-departure report here

At last, we have crossed the Indian Ocean and are now in Thailand.

We left the Seychelles in convoy (4 boats) and we hired an armed escort vessel to take us 400NM East (we split the cost and everybody paid his share according to his yacht's lenght in feet). This must no be seen as a common practice favoured by the Seychelles authorities. Beside that it took me a lot of energy to organize the armed vessel and we ended up with four yachts only willing to pay the cost... As long as people were under the impression it would be free of charge or that they would be able to "shadow follow" the convoy without paying, there were many people on the list...

Most yachties have this feeling that the entire WORLD must protect them at no cost... Seychelles have no obligations beyond 12NM and the EU or other countries hav no obligation at all... Pirates have always been there for centuries and it's every captain's duty to make sure he is not exposing his crew or vessel...

Sailing in/out Seychelles was 100% not safe up to now (any route) but it might have SLIGHTLY improved for a week because of the monsoon season, but I would not take this information for granted until properly confirmed.

Sailing to the outer islands is now very difficult because Aldabra, Cosmoledo, Farquar and even the Amirantes are at risk (many incidents reported there) which means you are left with the Inner Islands only. It's for you to decide if such restriction on your sailing programme is acceptable. We decided it was not good enough for us; life is very expensive in the Seychelles, there is virtually no technical support for engines, aircon, electronics etc. and for us it was not worth staying there with the only option to sail in a 30NM radius to islands already crowded with cheap charter catamarans (Sunsail, Moorings, Dreamyacht etc.) Because of this situation the nice anchorages in La Digue, Praslin and Curieuse for instance are packed. Not our cup of tea to have six cats braiing nearby...

The Seychelles authorities are very cooperative, friendly and alert on the issue but they have VERY limited means of action (only one coast guard vessel which is tasked with many other jobs...)

According to the French/European navies the piracy problem will not be solved within a couple of months and boats based there or finally reaching there might be stuck for much longer than expected...They talk years! Like in the Gulf of Aden.

You remain the master on your vessel by all means but I would say that the Seychelles offer very limited interest for now... I would rather skip the Seychelles and go to Mauritius if I had to go West.

Dominique
Amandla II

Rather than being escorted, commercial vessels are organized into convoys which are then watched over by EU navy vessels stationed at strategic points. Ship operators register vessels over a website and are given convoy start times and locations. “The EU mission is not alone in the region,” the Council of Ministers pointed out. “Efficient coordination both with the shipping industry and with other naval units deployed by maritime powers (Russia, China and India) or groups (US-led coalition TF 151 + NATO) is therefore essential. “The Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa) website, developed by Operational Headquarters in conjunction with the shipping industry, and voluntary exchange of information and best practices are the means through which efficient coordination is being achieved.”
The source:http://pwbn.blogspot.com/2009/05/ana...f-convoys.html

I think they are going to have to clear Madagascar...

[Boston]

Originally Posted by powerabout

7200hp and 20,000 lts..its not going very far!

I calculated a 225 gallon an hour consumption rate for two 3600 hp engines at 32 knots cruse speed max speed was 36 knots but I didnt calculate for that

that got a 45 hour burn time on 10,000 gallons for a range of 1422 nm
I guessed at ~112 gallons an hour each based on the consumption of similar engines and tried to er on the safe side

someone got the actual numbers on what those 3600 hp locomotive engines eat in an hour cause I could not find it

B

[powerabout]

mark775
I like the irony that the seychelles was formed by pirates...
how else did they learn to speak creole!

[powerabout]

Originally Posted by Boston

I calculated a 225 gallon an hour consumption rate for two 3600 hp engines at 32 knots cruse speed max speed was 36 knots but I didnt calculate for that

that gave a 45 hour burn time on 10,000 gallons for a range of 1422 nm
I guessed at ~112 gallons an hour based on the consumption of similar engines and tried to er on the safe side

someone got the actual numbers on what those 3600 hp locomotive engines eat in an hour cause I could not find it

B

You would need a propellor curve otherwise with turbo engines a bit more load can double the consumption as the boost goes up.
You would want to be on standby/slow motoring with one engine, assuming the drive train can do this, and only use both when you need to plane.

[Boston]

hmmmm
boat said it cruses at 32 knots with 36 max
I assumed it was running on two engines
also I wanted to er on the side of caution
although I could have taken the high number at 275 gallons an hour for both engines
but I figured that was balls to the wind

my bet is they would be going something like 15-20 knots average
but without the actual info on the engines I could not determine much
just a guess but I think its probably close
at that they might be running on one engine ( would be preferable )

Jarhead worked all day on building a business plan and after a long conversation I think he is getting me the engine information.
Ill post it soon as I get it
B

given that this is a national security issue and all these guys are vets that they have a shot at getting a gov small biz loan
any thoughts on that one

cheers
B

Generally, if you can get an SBA loan, you don't really need it. I don't know if they give vet preference, but not a "national security" preference unless a law is passed to that effect. The same as the rest of us, if you have good credit and some money (borrowed from relatives, if need be), you can get the loan.

[susho]

why do you need so much power?
I would guess a mothership, wich you could stock for weeks at sea, and a smaller boat(as posted on page 3) would be cheaper, and better suitable for the job, and longer stay at sea.
oOld fishery vessels are being sold for old iron prices.

or you should look out for a PTF boat, there are some survivors.
don't know about the range, but at least they look cool

Originally Posted by Marco1

This are 120 feet long. Should be ok for bad weather.

Thats what they need.

Originally Posted by Boston

someone got the actual numbers on what those 3600 hp locomotive engines eat in an hour cause I could not find it
B

You do´nt need actual numbers for any specific engine. ALL Diesel engines we are talking here are in the 190g Kw/hr ballpark under optimal load.

All these mil. vessels are designed to cruise under 70 - 80% power setting. The top speed is only for combat conditions and usually not of any interest for the intended use!
So, our example vessel will cruise at about 30kn with say 75% power set.
That is about 3800kw, calculate 200g hr, that gives about 760 kg or a tad less than 1000 liters per hr.
That should be capable of doing 24kn at about 500 liters hr. including the hourly 5 minutes run at 80% power to keep the engines happy.

Almost All of those older designs are NOT planing hulls, have NO deep V! They are seakeeping displacement hulls! Overforced displacement it is called. Say sort of semidisplacement to understand it easier.
That means, different from planing vessels there is no "hump" to overcome and then having a cheap ride just a tad above that speed.

Yes they roll your guts out in a swell at low speed, but you do´nt run them at low speed.

The mothership idea is a nonsense, you´ll see that soon when thinking about operating conditions and the dimension of the area.

As idiotic (sorry) is the idea of using a hundred years old gunboat with a range of a few miles, because it "looks cool".

When offering such a service to the shipping companies, what do you expect your prospective businesspartners are by profession? Butchers, Farmers?
They know something about capable combat vessels and boaty, boaty dreams.

Regards
Richard

[Boston]

so 500 liters an hour
boat holds 20000 liters
works out to 40 hour but at 24 knots like what I came up with
the listing specifically states cruse at 32knts
so we might be getting better mileage than 125 gallons an hour than at 24knts
maybe
fingers crossed

[Frosty]

So for a 50,000 dollar escort job' half is gone on fuel before you start.

A 1500 mile escort will use more than what you can carry.

Its becoming clear why its not being done and why piracy is so successful. Maybe you need to look to aircraft.

Or submarine!!! ----can carry massive amounts of fuel and if it gets nasty you can submerge. Now theres a fearful thought.

[Boston]

Jarhead wants to go nuclear
we both got a good laugh over that one

no what needs to happen is to add fuel tanks
a little remodeling and there off

there needs to be a fuel surcharge
and 50,000 isnt going to cut it
its a day rate and fuel is extra

what I need to do for these guys is call some of these people offering his service and see what there charging

hydrofoil boat might work though
its non nuclear at least

Originally Posted by Boston

so 500 liters an hour
boat holds 20000 liters
works out to 40 hour but at 24 knots like what I came up with
the listing specifically states cruse at 32knts
so we might be getting better mileage than 125 gallons an hour than at 24knts
maybe
fingers crossed

Those 32kn are average operating speed at high power settings. Real cruising should be closer to 22 - 25 kn I guess.
And all we do here is just guessing. But with 40hrs at 24kn we are already in the range needed. Remember 800 is the distance between safe ports.

At present the ton of MDF is 650$ per ton, thats 300$ per hour roughly.

Maybe the figures come out a bit better when calculating real data for a real vessel, but maybe the opposite.

Hydrofoils you can have for free! They suck you to death. And after some 5hrs running in a 1meter sea you beg for being shot!

Regards
Richard