http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/08/ship.hijacked/index.html

 

(CNN) -- Pirates attacked a U.S. cargo ship off the coast of Somalia carrying food aid to East Africa and may have hijacked the vessel, which was carrying 20 American crew members, according to the company that owns the vessel.

I understand the difficulty in attempting to limit these attacks, however my question is this:

 

If they are using "mother ships" to launch these attacks on merchant vessels, do not the "mother ships" need to dock somewhere? Additionally would these vessels not also need to be considerably sized in order to be effectively carry out there intended missions and as such wouldn't they need a decent sized harbor?

 

 

I am thinking that we need to go with the Q-Ship method to solve this problem.

This is crazy. I always love a good pirate story from Somalia.

Here's a tip: FLY the food to Africa

Here's a tip: FLY the food to Africa

 

It's a cost-benefit kind of thing here. The amount of food that a cargo ship can carry is many MANY times that of any cargo plane. It is also cheaper to ship it all at once than with many trips by a number of planes.

 

Ships can carry a volume of freight that dwarfs any other mode of cargo hauling.

It's a cost-benefit kind of thing here. The amount of food that a cargo ship can carry is many MANY times that of any cargo plane. It is also cheaper to ship it all at once than with many trips by a number of planes.

 

Ships can carry a volume of freight that dwarfs any other mode of cargo hauling.

 

What's the cost-benefit of 20 lives and all the cargo on board?

It appears that the Americans have retaken the ship. :thumb:

 

I know a few Merchant Marines. Not people you'd want to mess with.

 

Click on the original link to get the update.

It appears that the Americans have retaken the ship. :thumb:

 

I know a bunch of Merchant Marines. Not people you'd want to mess with.

 

Click on the original link to get the update.

 

Silly pirates :ohbrother:

What's the cost-benefit of 20 lives and all the cargo on board?

 

From my perspective, it is probably still not as high. Especially when you consider the fact that the food that this ship is carrying will allow even more people than the 20 on board to live. Given the famines that have struck Africa I would say the cost benefit analysis when comparing lives saved by food shipments more than outweighs those risked.

It appears that the Americans have retaken the ship. :thumb:

 

I know a few Merchant Marines. Not people you'd want to mess with.

 

Click on the original link to get the update.

 

 

Grr, they haven't actually added a story, just a line at the top. Annoying! :irked:

I still feel as though modern day Q-Ships would be a considerable deterrent to pirate activity in the area. Not knowing which cargo ships are really cargo ships and which ones are actually disguised naval vessels armed to blow you out of the water would give many pause when looking to hijack.

Grr, they haven't actually added a story, just a line at the top. Annoying! :irked:

This the first few paragraphs when I click on the link.

 

Crew members of a U.S.-flagged ship have regained control of the vessel from pirates who seized it, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Pirates took the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama early Wednesday.

The crew is believed to be safe, and one pirate is in custody, the official said. It's unclear whether other pirates remain on board the ship or whether they have fled, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

John Reinhart, CEO and president of Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk Line Ltd., which owns the ship, declined to confirm reports that the crew had regained control of the vessel.

"We had one communications earlier today from the crew, we were told the crew was safe," Reinhart said.

I still feel as though modern day Q-Ships would be a considerable deterrent to pirate activity in the area. Not knowing which cargo ships are really cargo ships and which ones are actually disguised naval vessels armed to blow you out of the water would give many pause when looking to hijack.

 

I think it would be great to decorate a warship up like a cargo ship. Let them get a little close, start waving the 'ole :isurrender: and then drop the facade.

I still feel as though modern day Q-Ships would be a considerable deterrent to pirate activity in the area. Not knowing which cargo ships are really cargo ships and which ones are actually disguised naval vessels armed to blow you out of the water would give many pause when looking to hijack.

They're only using 15 ships in the task force, right now. The Q-Ships could be a tool, but what is needed is a full carrier battle group in the area.

Could someone please define "Q-ship" for me? Never heard of that term before.