While looking for something else, I found an AP article that Somali pirates have hijacked three more ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean areas. Does the Advocate have the ability to find out just HOW THE HELL people in a small rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) can board a 20,000 or 35,000 ton ship on the high seas and take control of said ship? I've never seen a story that describes how they can board a ship with the deck 20 to 30 feet above the water while underway. I understand they carry automatic weapons and sometimes RPG's but, really, how can they do what they are doing without help from the crew of the ship? It just seems that it would be ridiculously easy to sink the small craft and drown the pirates.
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April 7, 2009 at 8:59 p.m.An RPG can penetrate the hulls and set the ships on fire. They also probably have some heavy machine guns mounted on their boats with armor piercing rounds.
It's funny that you write this blog. I just read a good article about the whole piracy in GQ. Here's the link: http://men.style.com/gq/features/land...
April 7, 2009 at 2:14 p.m.This could enlighten you a little.
ThomasRMartinez
I understand the crew of most merchant vessels is quite small. What I don't understand is why the ships haven't been armed. It's not like this is a new problem in the area. A WWII surplus .50 caliber machine gun on each bridge wing can provide protection against this kind of small boat out to about a thousand yards. A couple of .30 caliber rifles could keep the pirates from climbing on board. If the owners won't arm the vessels then they deserve to have their ships hijacked. It does seem strange that they would pay ransom of millions to get the ship back when they won't pay several hundred to arm the crew to keep the pirates away.
April 7, 2009 at 8:30 a.m.