Chinese ship uses molotov cocktails to fight off Somali pirates
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...i-pirates.html

Time to reinstate the convoy system? Seriously, wouldn't a convoy escorted by warships be the answer to the piracy problem?

I see alcohol, petrol, lighters and a wooden deck.
Blimey. Where I a pirate I would stay the hell away from that ship.

Interesting!
:o
:hmm:
:yep:
:up:

Forming up convoys takes a lot of time. That would increase the costs and transport times dramatically. Remember the convoy doesn't start sailing when you want to start. You have to wait untill a decent number of ships have assembled and that might take a few days or weeks in which your ship can't sail.:know:

Possibly....but I still prefer the Q Ship idea :p

Since it isn't considered wartime, companies wouldn't be too happy to lose profit over the convoy system. The pirates aren't really dedicated to piracy, and fear death just as much as the merchant crewmen. Q ships might actually work, but people will condemn it as "barbaric"

Edit: Thought you were serious about Q ships :P


Where will you find pirates?

I was being serious.....can't think of anything more barbaric at sea than piracy. :nope:

I think a Marine infantry platoon put aboard each ship before it leaves port and then removed after it clears the danger area would be an effective deterrent. I mean if a bunch of Chinese civilian sailors can fight them off with molotov cocktails fire hoses how difficult would it be for trained Marines?

It'd certainly be a lot cheaper to the ship owners than any convoy system.

I would have to see a cost benefit analysis. How much would a convoy, Q ship or whatever cost. More than likely paying the ransom on the rare occasion your ships get jacked is probably cheaper.

There are many US forces posted not far from Somalia, August's theory is sound. It doesn't even have to be US troops , India isn't very far, Maybe ships could pull a stopover at secure port full of soldiers..

A convoy wouldn't really cost THAT much, its just a delay that the companies will hate.

A company like Blackwater or one of the others would work better. Saves on possible rightious problems.

What a waste of alcohol...

Jack Sparrow's take on the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JImcvtJzIK8

Didn't the UN just give the go-ahead to land and air action against the pirates??

What are we waiting for

The French operating out of Djibouti are already doing it .
But your ship has to be able to maintain the required speed .
You have to book 10 days in advance .
Only one convoy operates so its a case of waiting if you are going up the gulf but the convoy is coming down .
Only 2 civilian ships in the convoy are allowed armed military personel on board as there are only 2 military vessels escorting and it isn't a state of war .
Extra ships that are not booked on the convoy are allowed to tag along , but get no guarantee of protection or assistance .

However , the French are providing the service free of charge .

Unfortunately not .
Leaving aside the legal/insurance issues the fact remains that in the main the first the crew know about the attack is when the pirates have already boarded and either siezed control of the ship or taken hostages .
The recent incident in the Gulf of Aden where a shipping company had hired armed guards illustrates this well , the two British guards jumped overboard as the pirates had already taken control before they had noticed it happening and they were powerless in a hostage situation .
As for the possible "rightious" problems you only have to look at the Indian Navy sinking the pirates "mothership" last month .
It wasn't a "mothership" it was a newly captured fishing boat with all its crew on board , the pirates escaped in their speed boats and all the fishermen (except one who was left drifting for six days) were killed by the Indian frigate .
Slightly embarrasing on the "righteous" front eh ?

Using a convoy to deter pirates in small, fast craft with RPGs is like trying to take down that mosquito buzzing around with an assault rifle.

Who knows. Best case scenario they are waiting for a bunch of ships from nations who aren't present but really want to be when they lay the smack down so they can declare their navy part of the glorious, successful pirate cleansing operation. Worst case they are still arguing the finer points of the RoE. If they haven't figured that out yet, they probably never will.

But, methinks if governments really did think these guys were threats, they would be proactively killing them. Not sending a ship to the area and issuing a a press release.

PD