Italian Cruise Ship Fires on Pirates

The reason ships are not armed is simple. It is still less expensive for a shipping company to pay an occasional ransom than to pay private security teams. Despite the media attention very few ships have actually been taken by pirates. In 2008 the total was 42 ships out of 21,000 trips through the gulf.

The US and foreign governments are not allowed to put armed military personnel on civilian ships. As soon as you put military personal on a ship it becomes a war ship under international law.

 

We do convoy some ships through that area, but there are a LOT of ships coming from all directions. The logistics make it difficult, and the pirates move farther and farther out.

Tom

 

If we captured a pirate, how much do you suppose they would pay for his return?

 

I understand we do also...

I'm thinking about a bigger picture though Bra... outside of the UN-actions... how about you.

I firmly believe we CAN root out the pirates if we chose to do that.

We did it before.

 

Why are they now 'glamorized' as pirates?

When another Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, was attacked, they were called terrorist hijackers ... and sent wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer to Davey Jones' locker.

 

Terrorist hijackers have a different agenda. Pirates are after money, pure and simple.

Tom

 

Pistols? They fended off the pirates with pistols? Wow.

 

That's not quite the big deal it sounds like. The Soviets had military personnel galore on most of their "trawlers" and other "research" vessels. What does one do when a "military person" is onboard? Not much of anything if it is not announced.

The more common problem today is that the vast majority of shipowners are just flat cheap, not overly concerned with law. Ships polluting and floundering are common occurances....much bigger problem with no headlines.

 

True for the Soviet ships, but their ships were also owned by the government. That's one of the things about communism. Insurance coverage was not a problem. When you take one of our ships and make it a warship, all insurance is voided. Most owners don't like that much.

Tom

 

Which was my original point. It's the money, not the law, driving the decisions

 

It's always the money. Even when law is involved, money is behind the law.

Tom

 

Dang, your suppose to argue and ......oops pancakes, not politics....sorry.

 

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