YOUR THOUGHTS ON PIRATES

[The Codfather]

Unfortunately its part of reality of a life on the water. In many places of the world you have small vessels approaching quickly and they pass at a close distance, for many reasons. Can't just light them up because they might be pirates.

I work for the government, and its disconcerting when a small wooden canoe of dynamite fishermen cross your bow wave at high speed at night because they think its good luck, more so when Im loaded with a few million tons of fuel or ammo. But then again we carry attached navy security teams in dangerous waters, which is helpful when our ship acting as the pirate prison is attacked by pirates. (Just kidding, the navy failed to respond in time and the ship got shot up). We carry small arms as well for self defense.

Thats all well and good, as we are highly trained in the use of force, small arms and self defense. However you cant go around arming every merchant mariner in the world, thats not safe. The best option is to mandate private companies hire private security teams. Does that happen all the time? No. Why? Money. Unfortunately thats the bottom line.

The best protection against piracy is awareness. Dont make yourself look like a soft target and you'll be fine. Ships do things like stage fire hoses and flares to repel boarders, maintain a constant piracy watch, put up defenses such as electric and razor wire and acoustic deafeners, and have an action plan ready and conduct drills. Knowing where to go and what to do is 90% of being prepared. For a small yacht or boat, maintain constant watch and stage defenses such as flares, loudspeakers and tacks on the deck (most pirates have bare feet). Be prepared to sound the alarm, speed up and zigzag at the first sign of trouble. Have frequent drills. If you are being boarded, send out a distress and get to a safe room. Help will come.

I see about a dozen piracy attacks and attemps come on the 'net a day, mostly from the south china sea. Dont think that because you are in a sailboat or yacht you are protected, in fact you are more of a target because thats a great amount of wealth and such boats are easily boarded and have large amount of cash. Dont try to resist, give them what they want, most the majority of the time they are gone before you know it. Its highway robbery, plain and simple.