I ran into an Army friend today who, knowing I’m a Navy vet, praised the Navy for freeing Capt. Richard Phillips, skipper of the Maersk Alabama, from Somali pirates.
“It’s just a drop in the bucket,” I told him.
And it’s true. It would take a fleet much larger than the U.S. Navy has to prevent pirate attacks. It’s a huge area and there are hundreds of ships that travel through it. What’s more, these ships are practically defenseless. They cannot maneuver easily, they are easily ambushed due to the limited visibility around their hulls, and they have small, unarmed crews that can be easily overpowered. They are essentially sitting ducks, there for the plundering.
Picking off three pirates might have won one battle but the war continues unabated. Clearly we need a bigger solution.
50-cals mounted fore and aft on either side ought to do the trick. Plus, have some, if not all, of the crew members carrying a sidearm.
Any unauthorized vessel within 100-yards gets it upon captain’s orders.
I wonder why Lloyds of London (I believe the leading insurer of mercant vessels) doesn’t put a team of Blackwater guys on every boat they have passing by Somalia … they’re known for shooting first and asking questions later … they’d be perfect for just shooting automatic weapons at every small boat that comes near the MV they’re protecting.