Pirate Mercs

Large painted IDs used to track boats? I would just walk around a harbor and make a list of all IDs, and keep a few cans of paint on board. Nice fresh numbers, and when the government went to track it down some other poor sap gets the blame. Paint my real numbers back on as I return to base.

In harbor spot checks are easy enough to counter with good hiding skills. If guns are smuggled through US ports, you really think some third world fishing port is going to have better luck?

The real answers lay in increasing the risk and decreasing the reward of piracy. Better policing and military patrol. Also increase options for legitimate work and quality of life for people. Even if it means pumping billions in subsidies from the international community into the region.

If a man has a choice between a decent life with interesting fulfilling work, and dieing in a watery grave from 20mm shell fire,... Not a hard choice is it?

 

Hanging over the side trying to paint big numbers straight whilst on the way!!--virtually impossible.

I think you would be able to tell if it was done at sea or in the yard, attracting attention to themselves with wonky numbers.

maybe ,--maybe not --but it would be yet another deterrent.

But yeah,-- blow the poor ******* out of the water. It was'nt him what will get the ransom anyway, he will get parity to a days successful fishing and some other poor sod will be in line behind him, eyes wide with storys of gold and diamonds that foriegners always carry.

Its ransom from kidnapping that brings the money and that is blatantly transfered electronically into some big shots account on shore.

And we cant stop that?

I have always thought that there is something wrong with the ease at which these ships are taken. Imagine grappling up the back of a ship at 20KTs

Just a simple knife would fix that.

 

Well, I've never heard of a successful attack during day light hours. Generally they rely on the fact that they are hard to spot in the dark, and work on the surprise factor. It isn't like commercial ships make a habit of hard zig-zagging while they're underway. Chances are during a successful attack the first warning the crew had was the armed gun man hauling himself over the side and quickly followed by a few of his buddies.

As for blowing the poor buggers out of the water, it isn't like they wouldn't get fair warning. A star burst 100m forward of an incoming ship, followed by a strafe of machine gun fire 50m off their bow. If THAT doesn't convince them to change course, then you move in close for a visual ID on the boat (to insure it isn't a fisherman who is having a heart attack.) and if there are weapons and they refuse to turn away, you knock a few .50 cal sized holes in their hull and move on.


It is very hard to get volunteers for suicide, especially when someone else gives them a better option.

 

I am in the Malacca straits now --as I type --I live here.

The ships have all sorts of anti pirate techniques, an alarm wire round the hand rail is an easy and effective one . Some ships pump hundreds of thousands of gallons of water out over the transom making access from the rear impossible, at night many KW lights light the transom.

It isnt as much of a problem here as it once was.

But would'nt a simple night watch help with a spot light?

I once followed a ship very close into Singapore straights at Horsburough light house early morning, still dark. I was lost ,--days before GPS,--I had Satnav and had no fix.

I must have frightened the Captain as he turned out all lights and swung the vessel round beam on to me. I could just make out in the dark the crew running round on the deck with torches. I just passed on behind him.

 

It is´nt possible to have a "Guard Crew" aboard the freighter. That would transfer legal issues to the flagstate of the ship in case of a incident. No master is interested in lengthy lawsuits in his flagstate (rarely the real homeport). Neither are shipping companies.
When a armoured "Guard" kills a pirate it is their problem to stand the investigations done by their flagstate.

Then it is´nt convenient to bring the appropriate equipment on a freighter. Where would you mount your night vision (export restrictions) and IR cameras?
Wher do you install a 20mm gun on a Tanker? Welding a base?

Nono, the independent ship is a logical conclusion, and it has to be legalized by his flagstate to act as a armoured patrol vessel with all consequences.

Solving the problem at the roots would be a sensible solution of course, but that is another pair of shoes, we see it is just not done.

No, shoot at everything heading towards a freightship, instantly and with the will to kill! There is no peaceful motivation to head towards a freighter at sea!

Sorry Daniel. But they have to be either scared (which did´nt function on the loyal base, our navies have), or eradicated.

And these people are not as poor as often reported. They collect enough money from a whole village to buy expensive boats and arms and have no difficulty in finding it. Of course they can promise a high profit. So, they feed the greed of their investors, like in every other business! That´s the fact about the background! The poor fishermen stay poor.

Regards
Richard

 

I don't know if there is a legal issue with carrying an armed non crew gang of professionals but if thats the case then it needs changing.

Sign them up as crew.

Fixing a problem from the source is of course the best option.

Aircraft are now reported to carry 'air marshalls' as they are called to combat terrorism or hijacking. Where is the difference?

I don't agree that a ship cannot arm itself at sea . I was legally armed at one time and no official batted an eye lid at me carrying arms, even having them delivered to my yacht in Singapore, as I had to declare them to government armaments till I left.

Port arrival documents asked --'arms on board' at one time.

 

All a bit far out of reality Frosty, do´nt you think?

And air marshalls act on order of their state, they must not fear lawsuits in a foreign country.

 

in the deep sea the law of your flag applies ( just like an aircraft) and then international law of the sea and then you have to decide on a location for the hearing
If you take crew with guns at sea and unload them at sea who the hell would care?
SO
you have to wait till the pirate is on board and them shoot them.
Have no witneses and make sure someone hears the first gunshot, then you yell "stop or i'll shoot" and then the second shot

Port document still have the ' do you have arms' and 'how much ammo' on them
Remember most shipping law is 200 years old so not as civilised as you think as it was written for a different era.
The only thing you cant do now is throw stowaways overboard.
You are supposed to pick up refugees but if they then say take me blah blah here or there they have become pirates and the rules are slightly different.....
So you press the distress button and say pirates on board and get some military guys to arrest the women and children and take them away.
A previous crew before me picked up a bunch off a libyan gas platform...they waited till dark and then took them back to libya..ha ha..to the salt mines no doubt?

 

you could always say
some very polite pirates with guns turned up and said 'just continue as you were'
but then we got attacked by not very polite pirates and the first guys fought them off.
then they asked for a tip and left

 

Hmmm.............

what are you dreaming at night? If I may ask?

 

The legal niceties are all very well and good. In the past, the time honored way to successfuly diminish a pirate problem was to take the fight to them in an unrelenting fashion. Cleanse the sea and cleanse the shore until the downside of pirate behavior exceeds the upside.

 

dreaming of the story to tell when you get back to the land
stories so unbelievable they must be true
Truth stranger then fiction and
if you say it over and over it must be true


ya never been in court and heard what gets said?
you can say anything except insult the judge

 

Sorry power.. thats drivel......

 

I have never sailed on a cargo vessel. I have however many sea miles around the south China sea. I carried weapons, 10 years ago it would be more unusual to NOT have arms and if you said you did'nt you would not be believed.

What to do is another matter, I only removed "one" once, my heart was beating so hard I could barely stand it. You do not stand there and say stop or ille shoot. An untrained person as I am looses all control, numb with adrenalin I can not remember what happened, probably a dummy attack which I now understand and get all the time. By that I mean they come at you with heads covered and go in front of your bow to take your good luck, then immediately start fishing!!!!!!!!

Powerabout Im surprised you not more experienced in this, surely you have traveled from Singapore passed Pulao Pisang and entered the straits.

Pisang to Horsburough is Singapores jurisdiction.

 

Actually that depends on the court. I had to intepret in a federal court for a drug dealer and he abused the judge at will and so did I in translation to my great amusement.