Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Pirates (of the West Indian Ocean)

"I don't even know what a crewship is!" -CJS
Wired has a great article about security in the Suez corridor - West Indian Ocean relating to pirate attacks and the defense against them.

Since 2008 when these attacks against crew and cargo ships (usually for the purpose of holding the ship and/or crew randsom) have continued on a steady incline. 3 Military-led sets of patrols (US, EU and NATO) have spooked the pirates, but they are usually too far away to do anything and easily avoidable. One of the main problems has been the reluctance of ship-registered nations to allow merchant ships to carry arms aboard. That has changed however, and private security companies have emerged to fill the void in armed protection.  These companies are usually staffed by former U.S. Navy Seals, U.S. Special Forces, British Royal Marines and other types of highly trained former-military soldiers.

The wired article tells the story of an avoided attack due the the very presence of a well-armed former military British security staff aboard a potential target ship.

Check out the videos below and the source link for more.





Source -> http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/pirate-fighters-inc/all/1
Related link -> http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/5005/war-is-boring-shippers-mull-private-security-against-somali-pirates
Earlier post -> http://www.dannyfinnegan.com/2011/04/meet-max-hardberger-62-year-old-pirate.html

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