Comments on: Pirates attack US cruise ship, can’t outrun it

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » The private-enterprise response to piracy

Hot Air » Blog Archive » The private-enterprise response to piracy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:19:10 +0000

[...] Last week, we noted the attack on a passenger cruise ship sailing through the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean by pirates, an attack that failed due to the superior speed of the ship. Cruise passengers paid attention, and now have a workaround for their overseas adventures in South Asia. Instead of remaining on the cruise ship, they’ve sparked a growth industry in tourist flights that allow them to bypass the pirates: A cruise ship headed for the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden docked Wednesday in Yemen to let off hundreds of passengers so they could bypass the dangerous waters by plane before rejoining the ship at its next port of call. [...]

By: DarkCurrent

DarkCurrent — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:20:29 +0000

Do you think they have coastal pirate towns in Somalia with whores, beer, fistfights and gold coins everywhere you look?

lodge on December 2, 2008 at 1:53 PM

Don’t know about Somalia, but we got all that here in Shanghai.

By: Beagle

Beagle — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:50:45 +0000

Sounds like a job for retired SF guys with six-shot 40 mm grenade launchers and scoped M-14s. Two per ship should be able to do the job. Or the kids playing .50s like a video game. I like that idea.

Reality: those in charge will keep paying ransom until the pirates are using old destroyers and diesel submarines bought from the Russians.

By: wolfva

wolfva — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:53:40 +0000

I’d just like to point out something inre. the Thai vessel. It was in the possession of pirates, ergo it was a pirate vessel. What, did you think pirates get their boats from Boater’s World or something? They don’t, they steal them.

By: lexhamfox

lexhamfox — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:11:34 +0000

It’s also a lovely stretch of sea. I can remember when Aden and the waters were safe it wasn’t until you went into the interior that you needed an escort.

By: Dr. Bob

Dr. Bob — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:09:25 +0000

Somehow, I get visions of the pirates getting ACME brand jet boats, hitting the afterburners and smashing themselves against the stern of the ship they were trying to commandeer.

By: DSchoen

DSchoen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:21:13 +0000

“Now… with that said. Wouldn’t the U.N. or maybe some other entity (namely the Company of the Fishing boat) telling their guys with the boats, to stay away from that area?
Common sense…. what a concept.”

Cept this was a cruise ship, not a fishing boat. The area is used because of the Suez Canal, otherwise they would have to sail from north Africa, south, around the cape of South Africa, then north till they get back up to Europe, through Gibralter.

120 miles vice 13,000 miles to get back to the Mediterranean sea and the other side of the Suez Canal. (use Google Earth and plot it)

By: Dark-Star

Dark-Star — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:51:12 +0000

TexasDan on December 2, 2008 at 1:50 PM

If you ever get such a cruise going, count me in!!!

By: Limerick

Limerick — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:14:15 +0000

But think of the pirate children that didn’t get any supper that night.

By: njcommuter

njcommuter — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:53:06 +0000

Give a few ~~battalions of~~ Marines some R&R on a cruise ship, with their weapons of course, problem solved in short order.

Fixed it for ya’.

By: njcommuter

njcommuter — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:49:35 +0000

What you need is to borrow the 120mm Rheinmetal smoothbore used on the Abrams tank and load it with the new 1100-pellet cannister round. Here's another vid (audio contains soldier language). No non-lethal silliness, an ideal anti-personnel round that should also take out small boats quite nicely. With a stabilized gun and an autoloader, you probably have neutralized the RPG advantage, though slat armor over the steering gear is probably a good idea; that's a classic weak spot.

By: lizzee

lizzee — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:46:23 +0000

For cryin out loud cant they defend themselves with weights from the weight room and isnt there a lot of other weights they can use, and if push comes to shove, they MUST have guns—-hell, UN or Not I would NEVER go aboard a ship that couldn’t defend itself! AAArgh!

By: Neo

Neo — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:43:27 +0000

The cruisliners should get some remote-controlled .50 cals and hook up a tv screen and game pads to it and let some 13 year olds have at the pirates.

They would have to make due without any way to “tea bag” the bodies, but I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to affect change in the region.

By: itsspideyman

itsspideyman — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:18:40 +0000

Cruise ships can cruise. A ship making 110% turn (above maximum safety) can run 30-40 knots. Those dinky boats might make 25 knots.

By: TinMan13

TinMan13 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:17:46 +0000

The liner, carrying 656 international passengers and 399 crew members,

Uh, slightly outnumbered at all? Even with shuffleboard sticks, golf clubs, and wine bottles…

By: Bluestate_Blues

Bluestate_Blues — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:59:22 +0000

Outrun by a cruise ship?..what were they doing, paddling?

By: mr.blacksheep

mr.blacksheep — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:51:18 +0000

Put a couple of subs and a couple of destroyers in the area. Require registration of all vessels using those waters. Sink unregistered vessels, no questions asked.

By: Pirates attack US cruise ship, can’t outrun it | All Excerpts

Pirates attack US cruise ship, can’t outrun it | All Excerpts — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:15:36 +0000

[...] Read this post » Read More [...]

By: Hog Wild

Hog Wild — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:01:44 +0000

Give a few battalions of Marines some R&R on a cruise ship, with their weapons of course, problem solved in short order.

By: Romeo13

Romeo13 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:59:31 +0000

Romeo! Oh, Romeo!

Most cruise ships are NOT registered to the US. But if the cruise originates from the US, then that’s close enough for me.

Oink on December 2, 2008 at 3:48 PM

Thats just it… French Built. Marshall Island Flaged. Owned by an International Corp.

Did NOT come from an American Port… was not going to an American Port…

I’m trying to figure out how this is suddenly a US Ship?

By: exhelodrvr

exhelodrvr — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:54:07 +0000

I don’t think they were shooting at the cruise ship. I think that they were just trying to signal it. They were probably out of water or something like that.

By: try again later

try again later — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:51:00 +0000

Arr…the Black Pearl would catch thy cruise schooner, matey.
Black Adam on December 2, 2008 at 4:36 PM

The Black Pearl? I’ve heard stories. She’s been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors. No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?

By: gekkobear

gekkobear — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:46:20 +0000

However, we have to make sure that the ship we sink actually belongs to pirates before sending it to the bottom of the ocean.

“a Thai fishing boat that had been hijacked”

So all they need is a hostage, or a pirate claiming to be a hostage and the entire attack is called into question.

And if the pirates seize a ship, that ship can never be attacked as that ship doesn’t “belong to” the pirates?

I think I see the problems with the rules of engagement here, but I’m not sure we agree on what those problems are.

By: TimothyJ

TimothyJ — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:41:58 +0000

In WWII, there were freighters sailing around that suddenly turned into raiders when they were close to Allied shipping. Maybe we could send a couple of hi-profile type ships into the area and then remove the deck storage to reveal some 5″ guns and blow these people out of the water. A few 50mm machine guns wouldn’t hurt, also. I am tired of the world being pushed around by a few terrorists either afloat on on land. Is it presumptuous of me to want to kill them all?

By: stacman

stacman — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:33:51 +0000

All cruise ships and merchant ships need an LRAD mounted in each quadrant of the ship. They were designed, developed, and distributed by Woody Norris right here in San Diego, and is possibly the greatest non-lethal weapon designed. The highly directional sound delivered by these devices are so debilitating the pirates won’t dare approach close enough again.
.
It’s a no-brainer, and a small investment for the security of the passengers.