I don't understand real life pirates.

[Papa Deuce]

The story below is from yahoo.... I guess what I don't get is how there can be pirates at all in this day and age against big ships.... I know that these ships are frequently ill equipped for security, but I shake my head and ask how that can happen? You have $100 MILLION in cargo and nobody or no way to ensure its safety? Mind boggling to me. I'm thinking that these ships ought to be able to blow pirate ships up if need be.

This story doesn't mention it, but many I have read about this say that some of these cargo ships are virtually unprotected. I don't get that even a little bit.


Pirates in Somalia are at it again. Over the weekend they claimed their biggest prize to date: a Saudi oil tanker the size of three football fields, laden with $100 million in crude oil.

Before you summon romantic images of rum-soaked swashbucklers gallivanting "Pirates of the Caribbean"-style, consider this: The sophistication of the most recent attack has the attention of U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On Monday Mullen said he's "stunned" at the pirates' ability to hijack a vessel in the open ocean so far from the coast (though most attacks occur closer to the Gulf of Aden, this one took place 450 miles off the coast of Kenya).

"[The pirates are] very well armed. Tactically, they are very good," Mullen said.

Indeed, the seizure of the Saudi tanker is the latest in a series of high-stakes incidents in recent months. Piracy has long plagued the waters off the Horn of Africa, but attacks this year have spiked 75 percent,

 

[MrsPete]

I DO understand modern-day pirates. They're young men born into poverty. They've grown up knowing hunger and want. Unlike Americans, they've had no chance for an education, no opportunity to better themselves in anyway. Even if they had a chance to better themselves, their societies offer no workplaces, no jobs, no chance to work hard and make a better life for themselves and their families. No matter what they do, they will still live without the basic necessities of life. Lacking knowledge of the world around them as well as transportation, they can't go anywhere else to find a new start; and -- even if they could go somewhere else -- they still don't have marketable skills. Throw in the fact that many of them have been raised in a violent world, and it's an awful mindset.

Why wouldn't these people be willing to take to the seas and risk their lives for the chance -- however slim -- of making some money? In a sad kind of way, it makes perfect sense.

However, I agree with you on the owners of the oil tankers. Why wouldn't they spend a little to protect such valuable cargo? They have knowledge of the danger and the ability to protect their investment. I don't understand them.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I DO understand modern-day pirates. They're young men born into poverty. They've grown up knowing hunger and want. Unlike Americans, they've had no chance for an education, no opportunity to better themselves in anyway. Even if they had a chance to better themselves, their societies offer no workplaces, no jobs, no chance to work hard and make a better life for themselves and their families. No matter what they do, they will still live without the basic necessities of life. Lacking knowledge of the world around them as well as transportation, they can't go anywhere else to find a new start; and -- even if they could go somewhere else -- they still don't have marketable skills. Throw in the fact that many of them have been raised in a violent world, and it's an awful mindset.

Why wouldn't these people be willing to take to the seas and risk their lives for the chance -- however slim -- of making some money? In a sad kind of way, it makes perfect sense.

However, I agree with you on the owners of the oil tankers. Why wouldn't they spend a little to protect such valuable cargo? They have knowledge of the danger and the ability to protect their investment. I don't understand them.

Yeah, I guess I said it wrong in the thread title. I understand the reason WHY pirates do what they do, but not how they can actually do what they do, seemingly at will.

 

[Charade]

It would be pretty easy to defend a ship like that.

 

[Pigeon]

I heard a piece on NPR today about this. Evidently, it's not hard to take the ships. The pirates have several speed boats and some rocket launchers. They threaten to blow up the ship if the captain doesn't turn it over.

Even though these ships are huge, they have pretty small crews, and the crews generally don't have much besides side arms. Arming the crews isn't usually done because of the danger of shots causing explosions on oil tankers. The ships have lousy maneuverability, so it's not that difficult.

 

[monkeyboy]

No national defense that is all

I could be a pirate there