What is up with pirates and hijacking ships..

[GAMEFINEST]

Whenever I hear that, I am like wtf...can't the ships get some security?

[Serge Litehead]

ships are not allowed to have arms in international waters

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by holograph

ships are not allowed to have arms in international waters

They aren't? That's kind of dumb.

I'm pretty sure they are. Captains always carry some kind of firearms; It's a long standing shipping tradition. (Correct me if I'm wrong here....)

I also think some ships do have security details, but it's very expensive. Being a security guard at a bank is one thing because back up / medical help is seconds away, but at sea everything is miles away - if at all. And if you get over run, your gonna spend years of your life as a prisoner. Fuck that - you couldn't pay me enough to do that.

[DBS.US]

Originally Posted by holograph

ships are not allowed to have arms in international waters

How about some high power remote controlled water cannons.

[drx]

if there carrying cargo they should be allowed to

[Serge Litehead]

i maybe wrong, but i think that's what i heard the issue with pirates is that ships basically cannot protect themselves because aren't allowed to have arms

[GAMEFINEST]

I know they can't, but hired security can, black water bitches..

[Sloane]

Sounds like a job for Pirate Patrol

[epitome]

Blackwater, the infamous Iraqi contractor (now Xe thanks to negative publicity), offers piracy security but it is really expensive.

[vending_machine]

Because there are a LOT of ships that travel in the dangerous zones.

It must simply cost less to pay ransom than to pay for security escorts.

[Adraco]

Yes, too many ships to cover and the cost of each security detail is too high. The only cost effective solution is for multiple ships to join a convoy and then have that convoy escorted by naval ships and helicopters.

The shipping company I worked for has 70 ships alone. Security would mostly be needed in or around the African/Somalian coast, but it's still a vast area and it's not cheap if you need individual ship protection.

Regarding back up / medical help, the US Navy has a volontary program for all merchant ships around the globe. If the ship agrees to carry a transponder, emitting it's call sign, position, speed, heading and type of cargo you are allowed to enter into a protection program. Should the merchant vessel ever get in distress or need emergency medical attention for any of the crew members, an emergency signal can be sent out via the transponder. And with all the US Naval vessels, submarines and so on cruising the world oceans at all times, the odds that they would be near are pretty good. The US Navy will then divert one or more of it's vessels to immediately set full speed to your last known position.

This way the US can gather massive amounts of data on the world merchant fleet and in return offers help and medical attention in case it is ever needed. Almost all merchant ships participate in this program, many sailors refuse to serve on ships which are not entered into the program, just in case, should medical assistance ever be needed out at sea.

[Emil]

How hard could it be to hide some AK47 on a huge ship?

When you see that small pirate-boat coming, just fucking shoot and kill them all.

[u-Bob]

Originally Posted by Emil

When you see that small pirate-boat coming,

That's the problem... most of the time, they don' even see them coming.

[k0nr4d]

my gf's dad works on ships. Only the captain can have a firearm and those high powered water cannons will only stop greenpeace, not a bunch of africans with rocket launchers and ak47s