Navy vs. Pirates

[Nfl Fan]

I'm just waiting for folks to start trying to blame foriegn piracy on the good old USA.

[Omaha Red Sox]

Question: Eventually, couldn't satellites render these "pirates" basically incapable of their profession? At sea anyway?

[portisfan24]

Question: Eventually, couldn't satellites render these "pirates" basically incapable of their profession? At sea anyway?

I was wondering something similar. How can these guys even compete with the Navy? I can see attacking merchant ships and oil tankers, but shouldn't the Navy be able to plough missiles right up these guys' butts? (Sorry for the visual)

[scottaa1]

On a happier note, the crew of the Maersk Alabama is home safe:

Crew members touched down at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland just before 1 a.m. ET in a chartered Airbus A319.

With broad smiles across their faces and some pumping their fists in the air, the men walked down the steps to the tarmac and were engulfed by family and friends.

Full story

[Tyeattolah]

Question: Eventually, couldn't satellites render these "pirates" basically incapable of their profession? At sea anyway?

You would have to maintain satellite coverage over a fairly large area and then have a fast reaction force in place to take them out, be it missiles or personnel. THese guys are operating from small fast boats...not as easy to reel them in as it would seem.

[scottaa1]

Plus those missiles are between $500k and a million each, lots of money to dispatch a little motor launch.

AFA satellite surveillance goes, there are an awful lot of small boats like that motoring around, difficult to discern the goats from the sheep. I'm not going to say it's a 'best' solution, but waiting till they're identified and then taking them out with gunfire is cheap, at least. I wonder when those freighters and cargo ships are going to start arming themselves.

[joejlitz]

Question: Eventually, couldn't satellites render these "pirates" basically incapable of their profession? At sea anyway?

I know a Doctor who was working on a "laser" that would be put on the moon. This "laser" could target anything on earth and destroy it from outer space. Last I heard, this doctor was cryogenically frozen, though. Too bad.

[biju]

I wonder when those freighters and cargo ships are going to start arming themselves.

The normal routine for these pirates is that if you let them "capture" you without fighting them, they will allow you to live while they collect their ransom. If you fight them, they will hit you with RPGs until your ship sinks. Clearly the better option *before* they threatened to start killing innocent people was to let them detain you so you don't get into a gunfight. But now I'm guessing it will be cheaper to just arm the boats with some military personnel and better equipment and longer range than what the pirates have.

Heck, I could even see a scenario where these shipping companies begin to hire mercenaries to do this for them for a price cheaper than the ransoms...

[scottaa1]

The Dutch stepped in this time. Link to story here. That's one badarse "frigate" they're in.

CNN) -- Dutch naval forces captured seven pirates and freed 20 captive fishermen after tracking the pirates to their "mother ship" in the western Gulf of Aden on Saturday, a NATO maritime spokesman said.

Meanwhile, pirates seized control of a Belgian-registered ship, the Pompei, a the spokesman said. Reports said the vessel and its 10-man crew, including two Belgians, was being taken to the coast.

[Metroid]

After the Dutch disarmed the pirates, they released them, Shona Lowe, a spokeswoman from the maritime headquarters, told CNN.

Because the crew was on a NATO mission, they lacked the jurisdiction to hold them, according to reports.

That's lame and sends a crappy message to the pirates....go ahead and hijack ships and take hostages, if we catch you we'll just take your guns and let you go. Jurisdiction schmurisdiction.

I like the U.S. Navy's response better.