The History Channel has had a very good show on modern piracy. The same mentality of: give the mugger what he wants so he'll go away seems part of the shipping companies plans. It's cheaper just to write off the ship, collect insurance, and move on. Or pay the ransom for the crew and move one. Then there's the issue of; a lot of merchant seaman, you wouldn't want to trust with firearms, and even if you did, there's the issue of training, command and control. Another possible course of action; hiring mercs for all the ships you have in transit through pirate infested waters gets pricey. But they are out there, those special "security forces", and they're used for "critical cargoes".
Interesting post. Thanks.