I must not be understanding this Somali pirate thing. Why is it so hard to defend a huge supertanker from a bunch of thugs in speedboats? They can't sneak up on you 'cause you're in the ocean and you've got radar. If you had some people with machine guns on board, the pirates would have trouble boarding, yes?
What am I missing?
Your average merchant seaman is no doubt completely untrained and unprepared in the ways of warfare. Besides, the MO of these pirates is to bring along some type of ship-to-ship weaponry and stand off outside of small arms range posing a threat to sink the ship if they don't comply. You need an actual combatant platform to cope with that tactic, not just a container ship with a few deckhands armed with AK-47s.
Not to mention what the pirates would do to the crew of a boat that fired upon them and lost the battle. Your average deckhand no doubt believes it better to be a hostage of pirates while waiting for the ransom to be paid as opposed to being an erstwhile repeller of boarders who got shot protecting a shipload of Chinese bathrobes enroute to Wal-Mart.
My first thought was that the seagoing powers would come to defend the rights of their merchant ships to conduct commerce, but apparently modern international law doesn't allow naval forces to swing a few pirates from the yardarm. Arresting and prosecuting them is not a viable option either as the laws are not very clear on some issues of jurisdiction. In fact, I heard something the other day that said that the British Navy had been counseled by her majesty's govt against arresting pirates because they might have a valid claim to asylum in the UK once they were in custody.
The Indian Navy sank a pirate boat the other day, but only after the pirates threatened to sink the naval vessel and then actually opened fire on it. Their armament included RPG missiles.
The hiring of private armed security is not an option in parts of the world due to international prohibitions against introducing weapons into some countries and regions. In those places, even if you are acting in self-defense, you can apparently open yourself up to criminal charges in your own country if you kill someone.
Some shipping companies are hiring private security who are armed with acoustic weapons like the LRAD.
Long range acoustic device - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I admit I am a bit disappointed. I thought the various navies would steam over, sink a few pirate boats, and remove all of the attraction that a career as a pirate currently holds.
