Pirate Mercs

de-militarized means all weapons are removed (and weapon mounting points in some cases. As in grinding them down and filling in bolt holes) and any non-structural armour is suppose to be removed. All military electronics are removed, and some markings are removed and repainted.

Basically the point is to remove any aspect of the equipment that makes it suitable for warfare, and would be useless in a civilian role.

So you shouldn't have to worry about the torpedo tubes being in the way. (But rebuilding fake ones as storage lockers would be fun for kicks.)

 

I have seen more mal de mer than anyone every should. I cannot imagine how miserable it would be in 115°F. Did Richard respond about these vessels? He's got a lot of know-how on this stuff...

 

6 and 1/2 million Kronen is something like one million US. May be you can bargain them down?

 

Ok, for one of these boats demilitarised they want $1,117,415. If I want it in "as is" condition they want $3,094,380. I wonder how much we could charge for escorts, how many contracts we could get a month, and how long it would take to make the money back.

 

Background is talking about an average of 50,000 per escort in Asia and that is an interview that is 5 years old
]

 

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

 

You may want to form a business and then start approaching companies who may be interested in services before you buy the boat. Do actual market research if you haven't already, and go from there. I can't say I've ever dealt with a start up business this unique, but I've seen far too many people fail with a small business venture because they assumed too much about the market and what they could make.

 

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/analysis-eu-promotes-success-of-convoys.html

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

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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.