Pirates Ho!

The level of pirate hijacking has increased to level not seen in recent memory. Ten years ago, when I would tell people that there are still pirates, people were surprised. They mostly prowled in the Straits of Malacca near Singapore. Now the lawless country of Somali has given these pirates a place to stay.

Among the recent prizes, the Somali pirates have gained a Russian ship full of T-72 tanks and Saudi supertanker.

"This year, 39 ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that pirates off Somalia had taken in an estimated $25 million to $30 million in ransom in 2008."

Where's the Navy? We hear about all of these ships moving to the area, yet we hear about the attacks continuing. The Indian Navy, today, sunk a "mothership". Probably because the Indians can see pirate ship and sink it. The Americans and the British probably have to get permission from the top ranks who are busy weighing the political implications of actually doing something. What good is a weapon if you are not allowed to use it?

I understand the size and the speed of the Pirate ships can be difficult from the relatively slower capital ships. However, what is preventing the Navy from arming some merchant ships and creating some bait. The pirates are in open top speed boat. Have the ship fire some larger exploding shells which rain metal scrap onto the open boat. Is it that hard?

Can we finally agree that inaction only breeds more brazeness. You only can negotiate diplomatically with rational people.