Sorry to jump in... but that's not exactly true. There is no "International Law" or "Maritime Law" that stops civilian vessels from being armed. I've seen a lot of that posted lately, and while it seems plausible, it's just not exactly the case.
Mostly it's just corporate policy (a bad one, IMHO) though it has insurance liability implications as well. Civilian vessels are bound by the law of the country where they are flagged, and then they must comply with customs law for whatever country they seek port. Depending on the port, and the weapons in question, most ports are reasonably practical on the topic. Usually, a customs seal and the physical lockup of weapons while in port will suffice.
Private yachts or owner/operator fishing vessels are often armed, in my experience. In a former life I was a Coastie, and conducted many, many boardings of many vessels at sea. When I got on board a boat, commercial or private, one of my first questions for the skipper was always: "Where are your weapons?". Not "Do you have any weapons?"... it was "Where are they?" I would routinely follow up with a plan: "Skipper... for your peace of mind and mine, what I am going to do is have a man follow while you collect all of your weapons into one place, and then I will post a man there for the duration of this boarding. Is that acceptable to you?" It worked out well for every boarding I did. Very rarely did I encounter a privately owned vessel that had no weapons. Most had at least a shotgun, some had a rifle and/or some handguns. A few had AR-15's and more exotic stuff. We didn't care. We only wanted to know where they were while we were on board.
Arm them. That's my take on it. :-)
When more pirates start dying at sea, it'll stop.
hmmmm...wez be educated, Thanks. When this pirate s*** started last year I hear many “experts” say what I thought was the case. I knew it frustrated the hell out of me.
You are entirely correct, company policy, the law of the vessel's flag and the law of the port are what control here.
It is not unusual for merchant vessels to carry small arms, at least the captain will have a pistol if only to control unruly crew members.
I sailed on vessels under government charter, and we carried one each Mossberg shotgun, 9mm pistol and AR-15 for every crew memeber.
We were required to take a small arms proficiency course before signing on.
The arms chest was well secured with a key only for the Master and Chief Officer.
In port the arms chest could be sealed with a customs seal, just like the slop chest which contained un-customed alcohol and cigarrettes. Frgds, 3/M
Yes. You get more of what you subsidize via lack of consequences.
In my opinion, these ships should be fitted with massive flame throwers. They'll get the necessary attitude adjustment.
Here's one from the Vietnam era. I'm sure they've been improved since then:
