Piracy On The High Seas

[white avenger]

Here's a site about the current Piracy situation:

BBC NEWS | Americas | US unveils plan to tackle piracy

So, what do you think? Will any of Clinton's proposals really work? As she says, there is a vast amount of ocean to patrol, and piracy isn't even limited to just that one area. Even back when I was in the Navy in the late 60's there we patrolled in the Caribbean and even in the Gulf not only for the occasional Russian submarine, but we were also on the lookout for pirates. In fact, it was believed that the majority of the mysterious disappearances in the "Devil's Triangle" area of private yachts and small to medium commercial ships were actually the result of piracy.

It might be practical to arm the commercial vessels, provided that either the crew was actually trained for the situation, or better, have trained security personnel on board to handle the job, but the "freezing the pirates' assets" strategy would be useless in countries where government officials are being paid from the very assets that they are supposed to freeze.

So, what would be your solution to the problem?

 

[DayVBayB]

To be honest, I think that she's fighting a lost cause with the Somalian issue, but the convoy should at least slow things down a bit, same thing goes for the freezing of assets.
She should focus on handling situations closer to home before going abroad. This way, when the problem has been quashed, issues abroad can be dealt with more effectively.

Making clear the threat was not just an issue for governments to resolve, she said the shipping industry had a joint responsibility.

"I have directed the [State] Department to work with shippers and the insurance industry to address gaps in their self-defence measures."

This might be a good idea, if the ships can be better armed and prepared for such situations, results can differ. plus the govt. can monitor who's buying and selling ships to whom, to an extent. ahh Capitalism.. 🙂

 

[Revolver]

I thought these days piracy was just a word for people who downloaded music online.

 

[Friendly Lurker]

Arming merchant ships might help the situation but it sounds rather fishy and would probably have some legal barriers. Either way, it's still treating the symptom, not the disease. I doubt the piracy will stop before the turmoil in Somalia is settled and all the illegal foreign fishers/waste dumpers are driven away.

 

[Professor Walsh]

On the topic of Piracy, I just have to share this BBC gem:

It was a cold, dark, wet and miserable Sunday afternoon. I was in my car, driving my 12-year-old daughter and her friend back from a birthday party. I was tired and fed up from being in the car.

"Mummy, mummy," trilled a voice from the back. "I want to phone the pirates."

My daughter had heard me repeatedly trying to get through to the Somali pirates on board the Sirius Star.

They usually picked up the phone but put it down again when I said I was from the BBC. My obsession with getting through to them had reached the point that I had even saved their number on my mobile phone.

"Mummy, mummy, please can I phone the pirates for you?"

"No."

"Pleeeeez."

By this time, with rain battering my windscreen and cars jamming the road, I was at the end of my tether.

"OK", I said, tossing the phone into the back of the car.

"They are under P for pirates."

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