Did you know these merchant ships must sail unarmed though places as dangerous as the Straits of Malacca?
If anyone has a few million dollars and wants to fund a Clive Cussleresque business with me, we could make a lot of money and have a lot of fun as mercenaries off of Somalia and Indonesia. We could outfit a large vessel with speedboats and a helicopter, etc, and set up contracts in advance with the major shipping companies to resuce their ships when they are attacked by pirates. We could also do “on the spot” work for much higher rates.
Be sure to get your Letter of Marque notarized by Congress first, or you could be held under the same rules as the pirates.
Did you know these merchant ships must sail unarmed though places as dangerous as the Straits of Malacca?
This is called a "letter of Marquee" and is legal under the US Constitution (it specifically authorizes Congress to issue such letters). It is basically hiring mercenaries to fight terrorists for you, and is a GREAT idea. Guess which Republican candidate for president has openly advocated this (the only one, in fact).
There are a number of companies that provide vessel and cargo retrieval using briefcases and or special ops. However, they generally work for the insurance companies not the ship owners because the ship or cargo owners have sometimes been in on the heist.
BWAAHAAHAA! It's a wonder no one's done it yet.
About 1982 or so, I officially suggested, through channels, that the U.s. government issue “Letters of Mark” , and provide coordination equipment and weaponry appropriate to the task, to private contractors to assist in the interdiction of narcotics smugglers off the Florida coast.
I got my ass verbally handed to me and damned near got suspended.
I still think it is a fine idea and one that could work.