[aNYCguy]

I would certainly want to be armed if I were a sailor traveling through areas rife with piracy. However, I imagine ports have policies against ships being laden with explosives or otherwise equipped with certain weapons.

[norwaypinesavage]

""As merchant vessels we do not carry arms. We have ways to push back, but we do not carry arms."

The destroyer USS Bainbridge is now on the scene. She carries arms - BIG arms.