http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_piracy_protection AP IMPACT: Security firms join Somali piracy fight ⦠Somali Pirates NAIROBI, Kenya â Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms â some with a reputation for being quick on the trigger in Iraq â are joining the battle against pirates plaguing one of the world's most important shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia. The growing interest among merchant fleets to hire their own firepower is encouraged by the U.S. Navy and represents a new and potential lucrative market for security firms scaling back operations in Iraq. But some maritime organizations told The Associated Press that armed guards may increase the danger to ships' crews or that overzealous contractors might accidentally fire on fishermen. The record in Iraq of security companies like Blackwater, which is being investigated for its role in the fatal shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007, raises concerns about unregulated activity and possible legal wrangles. "Security companies haven't always had the lightest of touches in Iraq, and I think Somalia is a pretty delicate situation," said Roger Middleton, who wrote a recent report on piracy in Somalia for Chatham House, a think tank in London. NATO, with a flotilla of warships due to arrive in Somali waters this weekend, is trying to work out legal and regulatory issues surrounding the use of armed contractors before adopting a position on private security companies. But the U.S. Navy, part of the coalition already patrolling off the coast of Somalia, says the coalition cannot effectively patrol the 2.5 million square miles of dangerous waters and welcomes the companies. "This is a great trend," said Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet. "We would encourage shipping companies to take proactive measures to help ensure their own safety." Somali officials also approve of the private contractors. Abdulkadir Muse Yusuf, deputy marine minister of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, said private firms are welcome in Somali waters. As well as fighting piracy, he said, they could help combat illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping. Some security companies â not all of which let their employees carry lethal weapons â blame trigger-happy operators in Iraq and Afghanistan for tarnishing the reputation of legitimate businesses. After a series of shootings that killed civilians, Iraqi legislators negotiated an agreement with the U.S. that will remove some of the private contractors' immunity from prosecution. U.S. authorities are investigating Blackwater for improperly bringing weapons into Iraq and for its role in the 2007 Iraqi civilian deaths. The removal of immunity, Iraq's stabilizing security situation and a glut of security operators in the country have combined to tempt some companies to seek a new market in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off Somalia. Last week, Blackwater announced it was hiring a ship fitted with helicopters and armed guards for escorting vessels past Somalia's pirate-ridden coast. Spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said it had received 15 inquiries so far. Peter Singer, an expert on private security companies, agrees Africa is a potential growth market, but he says it's unlikely many firms will abandon work in Iraq and Afghanistan, where there are dramatically more business opportunities as long as the wars continue. "If somehow Iraq ends and you see a shrinking amount of contractors there, most of them are in logistics and training services," Singer added. "None of that carries over to this role." British firms dominate security work in the Gulf of Aden, but American companies are increasingly getting into the action, according an Associated Press examination of new anti-piracy efforts through interviews in East Africa, Europe and Washington. In addition to Blackwater, Mississippi-based Hollowpoint, which has not been active in Iraq, says it will provide guards and recover seized ships. "We'll get your crew and cargo back to you, whether through negotiations or through sending a team in," said CEO John Harris, who is discussing contracts with several companies. There have been 63 reported attacks on ships off the Somali coast this year alone and probably many more have been carried out. Almost a third of the recorded attacks have been successful. Ransoms can reach into the millions of dollars. That's a fortune in a failed state like Somalia, where almost half the people depend on aid and warlords plunder food shipments meant for starving children. The money goes to clan-based militias, some of which are fighting in Somalia's civil war. Cyrus Mody, the manager of the International Maritime Bureau, says private security personnel can offer useful advice to ship captains, but he worries not all companies have clear rules of engagement or have sought legal advice about the consequences of opening fire. So far hijackings are rarely fatal: One Chinese sailor was executed by pirates when ransom negotiations were going badly, and the two other known deaths resulted from a ricochet and a heart attack. Mody says armed guards onboard ships may encourage pirates to use their weapons or spark an arms race between predators and prey. Currently, pirates often fire indiscriminately during an attack but don't aim to kill or injure crew. The pirates usually use assault rifles but have rocket-propelled grenades; some reports also say they have mini-cannon. "If someone onboard a ship pulls a gun, will the other side pull a grenade?" Mody asked. British contractors stress the importance of intelligence and surveillance, a safe room for the crew to retreat to if the ship is boarded, and the range of non-lethal deterrence measures available. "The standard approach is for (pirates) to come in with all guns blazing at the bridge because when a boat is stopped it's easier to board," said David Johnson, director of British security firm Eos. "But if you have guns onboard, you are going to escalate the situation. We don't want to turn that part of the world into the Wild West." Johnson's employees don't carry arms, relying on tactics that can be as simple as greasing or electrifying hand rails, putting barbed wire around the freeboard â the lowest area of the deck â or installing high-pressure fire hoses directed at vulnerable areas of a ship. One tugboat confused its attackers by going into a high-speed spin when pirates approached, causing the attackers to give up â and leaving the crew sick but safe. High-tech but non-lethal weapons include dazzle guns, which produce disorienting flashes; microwave guns, which heat up the skin causing discomfort but no long-term damage; and acoustic devices that can blast a wave of painful sound across hundreds of yards. Johnson believes his company's refusal to carry guns has helped attract business: inquiries have gone up three- to fourfold in the past few months. Other companies do arm their employees, pointing out that while non-lethal weapons are also carried and greatly preferred, they can be taken out by bullets or a grenade, sustain damage from salt water, and may have a shorter range than some weapons of pirates. Pirate attacks have driven up insurance premiums tenfold for ships plying the Gulf of Aden, increasing the cost of cargos that include a fifth of the world's oil. But some insurers will slash charges by up to 40 percent if boats hire their own security. Earlier this month, British security firm Hart launched the first joint venture with an insurance company, offering discounted premiums for ships sailing past Somalia that used Hart's guards. The 20,000 ships that pass through the Gulf of Aden on the way to or from the Suez Canal each year can't avoid the 1,800 miles of Somali coastline without sailing around the entire continent of Africa. The jump in interest in private contractors â spurred by last month's hijacking of a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and other weapons â has brought new players into the market and a flood of business for well-established firms. Drum Cussac, a specialist maritime security company, says its business has increased 50 percent the last few months. Not operating in Iraq or Afghanistan, the firm has traditionally supplied security teams to luxury yachts like the French Le Ponant, which was hijacked last April with 22 crew members onboard. Maritime operations manager Michael Angus says the yacht business has doubled. And now, he says, merchant ships such as bulk carriers or oil tankers are asking the company for teams of armed guards, making what was once a seasonal business off Somalia a year-round enterprise. London-based Olive Group, which protects Shell operations in Iraq, began offering services in the Gulf of Aden earlier this year. Its security consultant, Crispian Cuss, says just the presence of armed guards may be a deterrent. Pirates get information on crews and cargos from contacts in ports or at shipping companies and avoid vessels with armed men on board, he said. "No client's ship has been approached by pirates while we've been on them," he said.
I honestly think a significant part of the world has lost the capacity for self-preservation. Non-lethal defense? Unarmed "guards." Don't want to injure any of the nice pirates, apparently. Shouldn't the point be to kill as many as possible? Destroy their ships and ports?
It's all part of the liberal mindset that's sweeping over the world like the plague. Brutal honesty, tough choices and meaningful action have gone the way of the dinosaur.
I love the tone of that article too. typical AP. They are just itching to write a story about the poor somalis brutalized by the evil "triggerhappy" Blackwater mercs. Facts don't matter at all to these liberal journos. Blackwater has never been convicted of anything, as far as I know. Some Iraqis made allegations. How credible are they? You get caught in an ambush in a war zone, you start firing your weapon. Whose fault is it if some civilians catch a few stray rounds? What are the Blackwater guys supposed to do, sit there and get killed and let the VIPs they are protecting get killed or kidnapped for later beheading? The article carefully avoided any negative characterization of the pirates. After all, they had only killed three people in all these hijackings. Maybe the UN should be giving them an award? The tone of the article was that these are poor people of color, only doing what is necessary and we really shouldn't be so damned judgmental and violent.
Below is an account of how this bullshit was handled when leaders had balls. United States Marines have traveled several hundred miles overland, freed American prisoners of war, helped capture a Muslim city, and are now planning a regime change. That sounds like a possible present-day headline, but in this case the date was April 27, 1805, and the exploit was one of the most famous in the long and storied history of the United States Marine Corps. The city was Derna, on "the shores of Tripoli," and the Marine hero of the day was Lt. Presley Neville O'Bannon, of Virginia. The Barbary Coast states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli (today known as Libya) were run by high-seas pirates. Though no one had yet coined the phrase, they were certainly the "Axis of Evil" of their day. For many centuries the ships of these four north African countries had been the scourge of shipping in that vital body of water. Often seizing vessels and holding their crews for ransom, or even selling them into slavery, these countries were so intimidating that most European nations paid yearly "tributes" to them to obtain the right of passage of their shipping. On March 8, 1805, Eaton, O'Bannon, and their small group of fellow Americans, "set sail" with Hamet's men on the ocean of desert leading to Derna. With 100 camels and some mules slogging through the red-hot sand, it took the small army 45 days to complete the harrowing journey. One of the delays was the refusal of the camel drivers to proceed on several occasions. O'Bannon was said to be instrumental in persuading them to move again. At long last, on April 25, they arrived at Derna. Surely by then, many in this small army must have been happy at the prospect of battle, as opposed to dying a miserable death in the desert. A message was sent to the governor of Derna to surrender. His defiant reply was, "My head or yours." Shortly after this, the attacking force was bolstered by the arrival of the USS Argus, USS Hornet, and USS Nautilus in the harbor. It was decided that Hamet and his Mamelukes would attack the governor's castle, while O'Bannon, with his Americans, along with the Greeks and Turks, would lead an assault on the harbor fort. The naval guns would assist by bombarding the objectives. As the attack began, the firing from the governor's castle proved too much for Hamet's force, and they held back. With enemy reinforcements known to be on the way, the attackers were in dire need of a quick victory. Eaton ordered O'Bannon to lead his men in a frontal assault on the harbor fort. Two hours of desperate fighting ensued, but finally O'Bannon and his men drove the Tripolitans from the fort and captured the guns there before they could be spiked.
you should not be forgetting that they will need some female company, you cannot deny them some relaxation every night from the mental stress ..... ps is not international waters the captain of the boat the legal representative of the coutnry where the boat is registered? Now if the boat was registered ina country that had the death penalty for terrorists then it would be easy: have a court martial while on the high seas and execute them. No problem. ( that is how I remember reading that it used to be, at least at one stage.....)
It is incredible that with so many waterborne special operations forces that militaries around the world have, SEALS, SBS etc... these pirates have not been destroyed a while ago. At any rate I hope that the Blackwater security teams are allowed to be heavily armed. They need .50 sniper rifles, 40 mm grenade launchers maybe 20 mm cannons. The pirate ships need to be destroyed and pirates eliminated, this will serve as a deterrent to potential pirates in other parts of the world, such as Asia and Indonesia. In truth every ship traveling in effected areas need to have heavily armed crews so that the pirates learn the hard way that any potential target could have deadly consequences for them if they attack it. I guess that until the pirates end up murdering a large amount of people, the kid gloves will remain on.
A sniper rifle on a ship? I guess that could work-not sure why a 40mm grenade launcher would be so useful when an RPG has a greater range though. Rest assured, the tools are available , its a matter of willpower, and insurance. Like Bahrain doesnt have any money, and these ships are registered in Liberia, panama, mongolia (despite being landlocked) even threw there hat in the ring, anywhere the most profit can be derived. Some irony, that the cause of piracy is the same thing driving the global downturn-plain old greed. The workers on most of these ships are basically slaves.
The reason piracy will continue is because the US condones it. Yes that is correct. The US intelligence agencies support the pirates. Some pirates fucked up by hijacking crude oil headed to US markets, and they will be dealt with accordingly. However, other bands of pirates will be allowed to go their merry way. Americans have one of the worlds largest naval bases stationed off Djibouti. Only a few nautical miles away from where the pirates operate. American satellite technology can interdict a tiny cigarette boat headed from the Bahamian keys to the FL keys. Same satellites are definitely pin pointing every single vessel in the gulf of aden. So here are the facts for you ideological imbecile retards on ET. Since your ideology only magnifies your stupidity and nothing else, I will explain to you why the Americans provide cover to Somali pirates. American forces provide cover to somali pirates because the money from piracy helps build up the northern somali faction. A powerful northern faction counter-balances the southern region controlled by islamist radicals. If the Americans stop piracy, northern Somali would be over-run within days creating an even bigger mess. You will have a dysfunctional nation where al quaeda will come home to roost. The problem will then move to Yemen ( which is barely keeping the AQ elements in check). If Yemen should fall, we all know what will happen to the house of Saud after that. After explaining why Somali piracy will never stop, I still fully expect the resident retards to continue with their hand wringing. After all, no one can accuse any one of you of actually having the ability to formulate independent thought.