To all you armchair quarterbacks, what would you do?
Well, I hope they don't take notes from a little trick the Canadians tried a week or two ago. Unless these pirates pay a price for even attempting to hijack a vessel, we'll continue to see them increase. From The Niagra Falls Review,
Canadian warship mollycoddling Somalia's pirates
"The only thing odd about those Somali pirates that plunder the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea is how come they are still doing it? "
[snip]
"News reports tell of a Canadian frigate's encounter with pirates -- which may help explain why these brigands of the sea not only still exist, but seem to operate with impunity when confronted by the world's navies.
Apparently last weekend, HMCS Winnipeg, a frigate and a component of NATO'S counter-piracy mission (Operation Allied Protector) spotted three small pirate skiffs closing in on an Indian merchant ship, the Pacific Opal, in the Arabian Gulf.
Instead of demanding the pirates surrender or be sunk, the Winnipeg's helicopter hovered between the pirates and the threatened vessel, and dangled a large sign over the side of the helicopter, alongside the chopper's machine gun, that had the word "Stop" written in Somali.
The news report quoted the Winnipeg's skipper, Cmdr. Craig Baines, as saying: "They got the idea that we don't like what they're doing," and the pirates called off their attack. "
[snip]