I'm all for Arming the Merchantmen if that's what it takes, but I must admit if your on a ship carrying fuel or explosives you don't want bullets and grenades flying around. I guess one good way would be to identify the Mother ship and blow it out of the water, anyway something has to be done

I believe that there has to be something more to this situation than what we are hearing,maybe politics!

If we were running troop ships or military hardware carrying ships through this area,I do believe we would be providing security enough to prevent piracy!

Convoying all ships,providing arms to ships that are not ''combustible'' and hunt and destroy the motherships with the ''scum''aboard,would be my way to go!

Aardvark wrote:I'm all for Arming the Merchantmen if that's what it takes, but I must admit if your on a ship carrying fuel or explosives you don't want bullets and grenades flying around. I guess one good way would be to identify the Mother ship and blow it out of the water, anyway something has to be done

Well that's what they used to do in the old days. I'm reading up on the history of Jardine and Matheson during the first Opium War. These Scottish traders operated out of Canton and Macao, selling opium to the Chinese along their southern coast. They were often harassed by junks, etc. and subsequently armed themselves to keep these chaps at bay. When the first Opium War began, J&M leased their armed clippers out to the Royal Navy.

An Aircraft carrier or two would work, it does have the capability to cover a vast area using recon flights and it has the firepower. Then I guess who would foot the bill for all this, I think the insurance company would run a mile.
Stuff em just blow em out the water when they leave harbour, if there's no fishing going on then who's got a boat ? Death to all pirates except one's with one leg an eyepatch and a parrot.

Ter wrote:Death to all pirates except one's with one leg an eyepatch and a parrot.

Why should Westers get an exemption?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090410/us_ ... lia_piracy

an excerpt from the article:

"Other pirates want to come and help their friends, but that would be like sentencing themselves to death," said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme that monitors the region's seas.

"They will release the captain, I think, maybe today or tomorrow, but in exchange for something. Maybe some payment or compensation, and definitely free passage back home."

Yeah, now that should put an end to all of the piracy.

It will take armed mercenaries on the ships and heavier naval presence by all affected nations as a minimum to eradicate this problem. Any "mother ship" seen towing speedboats should be engaged, boarded and dealt with in international courts. Or if they resist then just sink the bastards.