Posted on 11/23/2008 2:07:03 AM PST by CE2949BB
Gone are the swashbuckling days of repelling pirates with cutlasses -- a British firm is spearheading use of a high-tech "sonic laser" to beat bandits on the high seas.
The piracy problems of shipping firms running through the Gulf of Aden and down Africa's east coast have been thrown into the spotlight this week by the seizure of the Saudi Arabian super-tanker Sirius Star.
But help could be at hand in the form of a long range acoustic device (LRAD) -- hooked up to a humble MP3 player.
About the size of a domestic satellite dish, LRADs blast the target with a precise beam of sound -- warning messages, noises, sirens -- which can be turned up to excruciatingly painful levels should an attacker get too close.
British private firm Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS) hires out three-man teams of ex-military personnel bearing LRADs on ships and has been inundated with work as the piracy problem off Somalia worsens.
"You'll be in absolute agony," APMSS chief executive Nick Davis, a 38-year-old ex-army man, told AFP.
"They're loudhailers that are coupled up to an MP3 player.
"It's very effective up to 1,000 metres and excruciating if you get within 100 to 200 metres if it's at full power. It would give you more or less permanent hearing damage."
With close to 100 attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean this year, pirates pose an increasing threat to international trade.
Heavily in demand, APMSS will have its full complement of 10 three-man security teams operating on ships in the Gulf of Aden next week.
Hiring a team with all the equipment for a three-day journey costs around 14,000 pounds (21,00 dollars, 16,500 euros) inclusive of insurance and travel costs.
Davis said his firm uses a "non-lethal approach", adding: "but you've got to get very close to lethal for it to be an effective deterrent".
"The operator can point the dish towards the incoming pirate boats and initially give them warning tones and then messages to make their intentions clear.
"If they continue coming, they give them a warning in their native language," he said.
An APMSS crew thwarted a pirate attack on a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden last Thursday, just 15 miles (24 kilometres) off the Yemeni coast.
Three skiffs hurtled towards the vessel, but were spotted by the team at five miles away, triggering a full response with evasive manoeuvres, water cannon, an alert to coalition forces -- and the LRAD.
"At two miles they sounded the general alarm. The pirates slowed down at around 600 metres and continued to 400 metres, waving AK47s," Davis said.
But the sonic blast put them off.
"The pirates then turned away and went to the vessel without security that was three to four miles behind ours," he said.
"They fired against the vessel, by which time, luckily, the French navy were only 40 miles away. A Lynx helicopter was dispatched and when the pirates saw that they diverted towards the Yemeni beach.
"That attack was foiled. A good encounter."
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones
Anything from the Disco era should do the trick.....
I have read that several major shipping companies with ships that pass through that area regularly have been in talks recently with Blackwater.....
Good thing there isn't an inexpensive countermeasure.
Notorious security firm eyeing Somali pirates
Not bias there, eh? Snort.
My money's on Blackwater :)
The piracy case in Somalia is a perfect example of victim disarmament at sea. Most merchant ships are forbidden by their countries’ laws from having weapons on board (a ban which is enforced by rigorous inspections), which leaves a 20.000tn ship worth hundreds of million of dollars vulnerable to a pirate dinghy with a crew of five armed with AKs and RPGs worth a few hundred bucks. So do we allow owners to spend a few thousand dollars on weapons and private security on board? God forbid! No, much better to send a carrier group, or just nuke the high seas.
At present the war navies of India, Russia, Britain, the US, Malasya and a NATO taskforce are in the Gulf of Aden playing cat-and-mouse with a few Somali pirates. An EU fleet is on its way.
Yepper. My wife's cousin works for them. Last time he was in country he and a few of his friends rode over from NC on their Harley's and I took 'em for a glider ride. I wouldn't bet against those boys at all.....
Since they are talking
Madonna records, maybe we should double up!
To pin point the sound so intense at a subject as seen on the Military channel a few months ago I dont think ear plugs would help,the guy being the test dummy had his fingers in his ears and he still was in a lot of pain from the source.They didnt play music just sent out different tones which were very painful.
Letting the Muslims seize cargo from super rich nations like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait may be looked upon as a form of reparations by the Obama team. After all, Somalia is a poor area and a true citizen of the world would want to see them uplifted at the expense of the greedy. This is one of their moments, this is their time. The other morning on MSNBC, Scarborough, Barnicle, and the shrew Andrea Mitchell were chuckling how they just might be rooting for the pirates. Their true colors were showing.
If the numbers here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_range_acoustic_device
are even close to accurate, you are correct. Those plugs will attenuate by more than 30dB, bringing the sound level at 300m and probably even at 100m down to a manageable level of 60 to 80dB.
May I suggest "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (long album cut) by Iron Butterfly?
You could wear the head phone style of ear plugs over them, too.
May I make just a crazy and absurd suggestion that I’m sure would never work,...how about capturing pirates alive, torturing them on live TV, then disembowel them while still alive, and hang their bodies from their own ships before it sinks and the sharks tear them to pieces. Then play it on Somali TV for the kiddies to watch.
Yup.
This new weapon is DOA.
Actually, a device that produces holes in the target vessel and its occupants (say, 50 caliber in size) would be far more effective.
How about playing some soothing MegaDeath tracks just before incinerating them? Somewhat ironic and a precursor to their eternities....
Want cheaper than that? Wet the filter of a cigarette and stick it in your ear. Works great and I have gone shooting a few times with it.
Here’s an idea: why don’t they just shoot them and kill them so that they don’t have a chance to attack, hijack, and kill others in the future?
Apparently, they learned this from the same people who believe racking a shotgun within earshot of burglars is a good idea. The strategy is leave us alone but go ahead and rob my neighbor.
Africa is not our concern but some nation should finally put a stop to this by sinking every single ship anchored off the Somalian coast.
Do that enough and you won’t even need the cigarette butts. You can just turn down the volume on your hearing aid.
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