AVAST!
Beware the Bermuda triangle.........and Somalia??

It's odd to me, as the entertainment industry romanticizes Piracy, it is a real problem in foreign countries!
Imagine, being on a Celebrity Cruise Ship, in the middle of the Bahamas, and some of these pond-scum try to board. Can you say "walk the plank"?

I know, I'm messed up!

Cathi

Dang, I thought this was going to be a baseball story.

I wonder if this is a good omen for the Cardinals tonight...

What is the reason merchant vessels are completely unarmed?

One could assume that a modestly stocked arms locker, with just $5k in weapons and ammunition, would drop the risk of piracy to near zero.

An open boat such as the pirates use could be easily repelled by a single crewman armed with a $500 semi AK and a few magazines of ammo.

I'm with you Limey..........take a flight or take the long way round but stay the heck outta Somalia!!!!!

Joe

I thought Pirates was a new strength training exercise.

You've heard of Pilates, now here's Pirates.

midwestbeth wrote on Apr 8^th, 2009 at 1:46pm:

Avast, ye lassie.

Pirates 7, Cardinals 4.

Lobster wrote on Apr 8^th, 2009 at 2:34pm:


They don't have to be completely unarmed, but international law limits merchant ships to a few small arms.  When merchant ships from other countries enter our ports, we don't want them armed with cannons or nests of machine guns.  They don't want our ships entering their ports armed like that either. So a few small arms are all that is allowed, and some commercial companies prohibit anything more than a ceremonial pistol kept in the captain's safe.

I think areas that have piracy problems might benefit from a little creative policing ... float a decoy with a skeleton crew that is trained to retreat to a safe room. Have a military ship just over the horizon, with several helicopter SWAT teams ready to go. When the pirates pounce, they are pounced upon.

Marc wrote on Apr 9^th, 2009 at 12:35pm:


or... displaced wall street traders?


Tony

Soo, basically, my viewing this as a light subject was off base......

Yes, it is shocking that ,in this day and age, Pirates- or Opportunists from Third-World countries exist. More shocking  is the 3 piece-suited contingent of Pirates who have boarded your financial ship and are currently pillaging right here in our country. At LEAST good pirates fly the Jolly Roger, so one can identify them as such!

Meanwhile, I'll continue to romanticize Pirates, as in Johnny Depp and, oh, crap, that wonderful old Swashbuckler whose name escapes me for now.......and I'll do my level best to ignore people who talk down to me about it.......

Cathi, who was having some fun........
BTW- Captains of these vessels DO keep a pistol.just in case.......and, if someone attempts a mutiny, theyare trained to use it. Fact is, the ship is worth more ON the water, rather than UNDER the water, should the Pirates board it . Their goal is to empty the ship and then sink it......imagine the $$ loss for THAT!

    For more than a few decades there have been on average 30 ships a month lost to piracy in the Molacca Straits alone. Foreign flagged container ships aren't news. American flagged container ships are. So now everybody knows there are still Pirates on the high seas. Even if it is the low level guys guys off the African Coast. Well its a start I guess.