US Flagged Vessel Captured! UPDATE: Navy SEALS take out pirates

[Ishmael]

Originally Posted by Dowly

US flagged ship get's captured and everyone are screaming about it. What happened to the all the other ships that got captured? They dont deserve a thread? Fricking sick of this US this US that bull****. The sailors knew the risks of goin there, big farking thing.

There's a reason for my US-centroism. The US Navy is only obligated to protect and defend US-flagged ships and that's all they SHOULD protect. At the end of World War 2, the US had the largest merchant fleet in the world. Then steamship companies didn't want to pay US wages or obey US safety laws so they flocked to flags of convenience like Panama and Liberia. The final result is as you see it. The US warships should sink any pirate-controlled vessel that gets within 50 miles of the lifeboat, hostages or not. Piracy is a scourge to honest sailors everywhere and it will continue until it is stamped out. If these other ships want naval protection, they should contact the Liberian or Panamanian Navy, otherwise they should reregister under US flag with US crews. I note that it was ONLY the US crew who retook control of their vessel. As far as civilian casualties, the people who live in these pirate lairs are all making money off of the trade and are therefore complicit in it. As long as the benefits of Piracy outweigh the consequences, piracy will continue there as it did in the Caribbean and Madagascar in earlier times.