Is it still illegal to carry weapons aboard an international freighter?
Really, really stupid.
Super stupid. SSS = shoot, sweep and sea burial.
Some shipping companies are carrying armed guards while in pirate waters.
Then you have a country like India that imprisons those guards. Bunch of em sitting in a rotten Indian jail with long sentences on trumped up charges.
Yes it is. If you get caught with anything more than a handful of small arms on your ship by the Coasties or the Feds you are in so much trouble.
Word on the darknet is that shipping companies are getting distinctly nervous because they can’t defend themselves, the US is increasingly useless, and there’s no nation even close to replacing us on providing high-seas security.
Supposedly a handful of individual captains that sail in high-risk areas are starting to keep a well-hidden stash of RPGs for use by trusted crewmembers because you don’t need a direct hit unlike a gun (and sniping on the high seas is insanely hard) and they can outright sink pirate launches leaving no evidence. Captain puts out a radio call, everyone who isn’t trusted goes below or otherwise somewhere they won’t see something they shouldn’t and it’s point, blam, thank you ma’am with no survivors.