Admiral Mark Fitzgerald during his VOA interview, 21 Apr 2010
Adm. Fitzgerald is absolutely correct. It's high time merchant marine vessels came with weapons for self-defense against marauding pirates, from arms lockers to ship-mounted cannons.
Posted on 04/23/2010 6:48:55 AM PDT by myknowledge
U.S. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald says commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean should carry armed guards to help defend against Somali pirates.
"The area is enormous and we just do not have enough assets to cover every place in the Indian Ocean," said Fitzgerald, who commands U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa.
While trying to open a corridor through the Gulf of Aden, some of the pirates have been forced into the Indian Ocean as far away as the Seychelles.
"There has got to be security on these ships in my opinion," said Fitzgerald. "Those security detachments that are on some of the large commercial ships have been very effective. It is up to the commercial industry to figure out how to deal with this. But I do not think that we can give them a 100 percent guarantee that we can protect them, nor should we."
(Excerpt) Read more at 1.voanews.com ...
Admiral Mark Fitzgerald during his VOA interview, 21 Apr 2010
Adm. Fitzgerald is absolutely correct. It's high time merchant marine vessels came with weapons for self-defense against marauding pirates, from arms lockers to ship-mounted cannons.
There’s a business plan in here somewhere.
While I agree that ships should have weapons to repel boarders (pirates and such), the root of all this nonsense is that the old international rules that had piracy as an offense punishable by death on the spot were done away with. Until that is fixed, we’re not going to see this go away.
So the millions in ransoms that have been paid did not make the pirates go away?
U.S. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald’s nickname: Captain Obvious.
No. They only made the pirates seek out more succulent prey, like jackals, like hyenas, like raptors, or like black sharks.
The problem is that the nations where these ships travel are freaked out by the idea of armed sailors appearing in their ports. They must have watched the old movies “The Dogs of War” or “The Wild Geese” once too often.
The Admiral is correct. The model would be the U.S. Navy Armed Guard assigned to Liberty Ships during WWII. We should have done this years ago.
Boy, them Navy Admirals are on it but quick.
/sarc
Restore HANGING...SINK PIRATE VESSELS Hang every man who boards a vessel without the permission of the Capt. and SINK every pirate vessel that is found on the high seas or in port!
A workable business model then is to post ships just outside major ports in international waters where commercial ships can load and unload rented munitions for anti-pirate security...
...why not get in on the fun?
http://piratesofsomalialive.com/
I'll go one better. Ships with heli-pads on them and rotating crews of security personell are stationed in international waters just outside ports of call. When the ship pulls out, a team of say 5 armed men is helo'd on board and stays with them through the danger area.
At the other end they're helo'd off the boat to another staging craft and the process repeats itself. Security crews could work 90 day rotations.
Charge the shipping lines say 1k per man per day they're on board. That's pretty cheap insurance against multi-million dollar ransoms if you ask me.
L
“It’s high time merchant marine vessels came with weapons for self-defense against marauding pirates, from arms lockers to ship-mounted cannons.”
I understand local firearms laws each country might have but they seriously need an international law that allows for firearms so long as they are recorded as being on board, locked while in port and available for inspection by port authorities and coastal units. These merchant vessels must protect themselves.
and quad .50s.
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