The solution to the Somali pirates ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Barbary_War

 

There is no need for detention or a trial. If you show up alongside a ship in a small boat with weapons, your intention is clear. They should be summarily shot and thrown into the ocean. Be done with them.

 

That would be awesome: Professional Pirate Killer.

I'd believe you would pull a lot of tail that way.

 

Erika Eleniak. Hubba Hubba.

I love TLJ's line during the hostage negotiations: "I missed the 60s you sonofabitch. And I really believe if I'd been there to make my contribution, everything would've been OK."

 

There's no such thing as "the Somali government" and there hasn't been for a long time. That's the root of the problem.

 

I'm talking, like, boy band ass.

 

A security analyst from Britian was on TV last night and pointed out that the pirates are operating in waters "geographically larger than Western Europe." So preventing their activities with navies alone is futile. Their land bases would have to be occupied by military forces. Good luck with the diplomatic call for volunteers.

 

I was gonna suggest get Bob Nutting to infiltrate the group, they'll be irrelevant in no time.

 

Which brings us to this suggestion...

 

This was suggested during the first wave of attacks a couple years ago, and largely dismissed for three reasons, IIRC:
1) Cost vs. benefit. The odds of actually being attacked are probably 100-1 or more. To put a security force on EVERY ship traveling through that part of the world would get incredibly expensive in a very short time.
2) Legal issues. I'm a little fuzzy on this one, but I seem to recall some debate over whether it was legal to put armed men on a commercial ship. Something about it turning a freighter into a warship, at least from a legal standpoint. Can be a sticky situation with a U.S. or Israeli flagged ship.
3) Tactical problems. These freighters are HUGE, with lots of blind spots. The pirates' "ships" are mostly fast rubber rafts. They pull up alongside and board, a couple dozen men from two or three of these boats. A security team (probably no more than five or 10 men) can cover some of the strongpoints of the freighter, but it's hard to get them all with that small a force.

Some security firms still do offer security for ships, and some companies hire them. But there are valid reasons why a lot of them don't.

 

Interesting stuff.

I've never exactly understood how a bunch of guys in a little rubber boat can manage to board a big oil tanker with big, steep walls unless someone drops a ladder.

 

For the most part, I believe they bring their own. Connect them to a lower deck with grappling hooks, climb aboard and then lower the ship's ladder to the rest of the boarding party.