Repelling boarders

Finally we see what a few guys with AR rifles can do when pirates try to board their vessel. It's a frickin' turkey shoot.




They even gave the pirates the courtesy of warning shots and they still tried to take the ship. Just after the 2 minute mark you can hear incoming rounds from other pirates.

Daily dose of stupid thwarted by common sense

Maersk Inc. Chairman John P. Clancey, in talking to Congress on what can be done to prevent piracy on US merchant ships, says the dumbest thing I have heard in a while, twice:

"Arming merchant sailors may result in the acquisition of ever more lethal weapons and tactics by the pirates, a race that merchant sailors cannot win," the Maersk Inc. chairman said in his prepared remarks.

They use AK-47s and RPGs right now; just what "more lethal" weapons does Clancey think that pirates will use? An RPK? Not a whole lot of difference in the scope of things. And how he thinks that the crew of a huge ship would be unable to arm with Superior weapons against pirates on a wimpy little motor boat is laughable. None the less, pirates with "more lethal" weapons were recently driven off by crew members with pistols. Twice.

Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips says that the crews should be armed:

"It would be my personal preference that a limited number of crew aboard the vessel have access to effective weaponry," Phillips told the panel, his wife and a crew member seated behind him.

His thoughts are shared by at least one other crew member from the Maersk Alabama.

Here's the second dose of stupid from Clancey:

And the notion of crew members, armed and out to sea for weeks or months, could be a recipe for deadly and costly accidents.

"There have been incidents where innocent bystanders have been killed," Clancey said. "There is exposure."

Innocent bystanders? Where? You have a crew of about a dozen guys on a big ass ship that's out to sea, or at anchor, and he's worried about bystanders? These guys could shoot howitzers while at sea and not hurt anybody. While at port they could put everything in an arms room under the control of a Master-at-Arms, and would be good to go.

As it stands, that still doesn't address the problem of insurance companies not covering ships with armed crews. Ultimately, that policy is pushed by fear of litigation, which is why I say that lawyers are gonna be the end of this world, not to mention sue happy people that pay them.

Armed Israelis shoot back at pirates

And the pirates turned tail and ran.

Armed defense works? Who would have thought?

Notice that the pirates had automatic weapons and the Israelis had pistols, and that no one on board the Italian ship was harmed.

(H/T Ace)

Maybe Obama should give Somali pirates a job

"It is widely recognized that ultimately, the solution to the challenge of piracy as it emanates from the shore is to address the challenges ashore that lead to these young men being inclined to take up pirate activities as opposed to having something else productive to do," Moeller says.

Like dodging Hellfire missiles from Predator drones? That would be my first option for gainfully employing pirates; that is, of course, if using the drones doesn't take away from operations else ware.

I do understand the point that Vice-Admiral Bob Moeller, deputy to the commander for military operations at the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), is trying to make. We're spread thin enough as it is to take on killing another group of people.

I still don't see how we can avoid talking about giving merchant vessels the option to up arm. And spare me the line about how other countries don't want merchant ships that arm crews with rifles to port when they could give two shits about US warships that carry missiles cruising around in their waters.

The US government could sponsor the training and provide the arms, or at the very least allow contractors or the like to protect these vessels. Last time I checked, Congress is specifically chartered with "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas,."

What the hell else are they doing?

Outsourcing strength

It seems to be the thing to do these days. People believe that they are somehow not qualified to protect themselves or their property because they are not "highly trained." Constantly being told that "experts agree" that they "will do more harm than good" if they resist, the _________(s) will just take away your ________(s) and kill you with it or hurt you more for resisting.

So the almost daily occurrence of piracy is not at all surprising considering that we have so many unarmed vessels floating around just waiting to be harvested by goons with rusty weapons.

But CTone, they're Highly Trained madmen!!! How do you expect anyone to repel such an onslaught of half starved men who barely know how to use their weapons?

I'm not against outsourcing violence on others behalf - military and police come to mind - as long as the people charging them with their protection are capable of providing their own protection as well. There should be no monopoly of force. Paying people to be vigilant while you sleep is a proven concept, but defending yourself on your own should never make you a vigilante.

With that said, why is it that the people insist on making ships defenseless? Really. Pirates are not invincible people who are trained to take down ships, and it doesn't take much effort to board the vessel with a half empty bolt action rifle when the handful of people on board are unarmed. And I'm sorry, but telling those on board that repelling boarders with rifles is futile, but repelling boarders with water hoses and beer bottles is a great idea.

Sure, some of the pirates have machine guns and RPGs, but it doesn't take a genius to see that a ship with a M2 Browning would make short work of a little boat full of armed crazies that was heading their way. And a couple of guys with Ruger Mini 14s would make the climb on board more treacherous than the ship would be worth.

What do we have to show for maintaining valuable ships full of defenseless people? An explosive increase in piracy, hostage taking, and murders.

When will we learn that being defenseless is stupid?

Update: The crew of Maersk Alabama has reported that they have taken back control of the ship, and that they have one pirate in custody; the rest have been cast back into the sea. No word on how this was accomplished, but good on em'.

Update: Well, FOX News reports that the crew was not armed:

"All the crew members are trained in security detail in how to deal with piracy," Maersk CEO John Reinhart told reporters. "As merchant vessels we do not carry arms. We have ways to push back, but we do not carry arms."

That's pretty silly, but in this case it did work. I'm sure we will have details soon.

Update: The pirates have the Alabama's Captain hostage, and are holding him on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. Not good. It seems that the Captain surrendering was part of how the crew was able to re-take the ship.

Why do they put up with piracy?

Why is it that the crew aboard this Chinese cargo ship are unarmed while underway? Why do they have to try to improvise weapons to make a futile attempt to wave off a few scumbags with a little boat? Is it that they might hurt someone while traveling miles from the shore of the nearest country? Seriously:

Keeping low to avoid being shot, a sailor lights a Molotov cocktail before throwing it at Somali pirates trying to board his ship.

He and his crewmates were expecting trouble and had prepared dozens of the makeshift grenades to repel an invasion.

Their cargo vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Aden by pirates using speedboats and armed with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

What, they might get hurt? The pirates are trying to kill them anyways; might as well have some rifles on board to shoot back. I can tell you right now that I would defy international law if I were the captain of a ship sailing the high seas and carry an arsenal of weapons. And to the naysayers that think that firearms won't help the crew fight off armed pirates because they're too incompetent to use them:

Despite their best efforts the nine pirates clambered aboard after tying up alongside.

The 30 Chinese crew then locked themselves in their accommodation area - which includes their sleeping rooms, mess rooms and recreation area - to prevent the bandits from entering the ship itself.

The ship's captain, Peng Weiyuan, told Chinese TV that the crew used 'water cannon, self-made incendiary bombs, beer bottles and other missiles to fight the pirates' during the five-hour stand-off.

'Thirty minutes later, the pirates gestured to us for a ceasefire then the helicopters from the joint fleet came to our help.'

That's right, they used a water cannon and beer bottles to repel the pirates. Now imagine what they could have done with a few SKS's or Type 56's. You want piracy to stop, then quit giving them soft targets.

If you think that violence is not the answer, then consider that harsh words are not what drove the scumbags back into their hole:

Choong said the bureau quickly sought help from a multi-coalition naval force, which dispatched the helicopters and a warship to the area.

'Two helicopters arrived at the scene first and helped deter the hijacking. They fired at the pirates, forcing them to flee the ship. Nobody was injured,' he said.

A defenseless ship getting their asses handed to them by bandits? Lets dispatch a heavily armed ship to kill them!! Too bad the warship didn't get the chance to smoke those bastards in the water. That would send a better message to them then sending them a fleet of easy money to take at their convenience.