Piracy on steep rise

[Skybird]

Germany now being the most affected state.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-912089.html

German and European reaction: well, you tell me.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Convoys and escorts - come on world, it's worked well (ish) before.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Convoys and escorts - come on world, it's worked well (ish) before.

Precisely...a couple of dozen merchants and two helicopter capable naval vessels with a couple of fast inflatables each should do the trick.

The merchant companies and insurers each pay a fee to the naval budget to cover costs.

Usually I am not that radical but if a boat with pirates armed to the teeth sets course for a cargo ship, tanker, whatever, clearly trying to board it... just use them as target practice.

Maybe their brothers in arms will consider attacking merchant vessels in the future?

[Skybird]

German ships sometimes already have mercenaries aboard, a decision by their owners that is made by pure desparation. Which would be acceptable if it works, and it seems to work. But by German law, these companies are not really allowed top defend their ships, and are acting in a so far only tolerated legal grey zone.

That Western govenrments allow Western hostages by the hundreds being held in captivity over months and years, exposed to physical and psychic terror, fear, disease and what ther eis more, is a scandal, and worse: it is a crime.

Armed drones, loaded with area-affecting ammo, some kind of cluster ammo. Gunships. Could you imagine what a Cobra would mean for attacking pirate boats?

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Armed drones, loaded with area-affecting ammo, some kind of cluster ammo.

That surprises me coming from you. Cluster munitions are amongst the most indescriminate ever created - Just outside Pristina airport is a field littered with them (or it was in 1999/2000), fenced off from me - although I did go in a couple of times on a proven route (some idiot put our mast up in there without checking first!!!) - but not from the handful of houses that backed on to it with kids playing in it - although they knew exactly where they lay, pointing to them and shouting 'mina, mina', the livestock didn't.

Cluster munitions either get all, or at sea will get nothing.

[Jimbuna]

We'll throw in a couple each of these:

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Armed drones, loaded with area-affecting ammo, some kind of cluster ammo. Gunships. Could you imagine what a Cobra would mean for attacking pirate boats?

I'm fairly certain that this would only lead to hostages being aboard the raiders as human shields in the future.
And for the choppers and drones, these guys have money and connections. I don't think it would take long before they come back with some shoulder launched SAMs that went "missing" in some former Soviet arsenal.
I think the best solution would be for ships to be armed. A convoy system doesn't work anymore with modern traffic demands. There are too many ships heading to too many destinations (hey, we all want our cheap stuff from China, don't we?), or at least that is what I would expect.