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The Threat of Modern Piracy- A Merged Thread

A more entrepreneurial military force commander would negotiate 'contracts', and other mutually beneficial agreements, with the locals to ensure the safe passage of their vessels and the merchantmen under their care, of course.

See: 'Gurkhas' for more information on how make this work in a land based context :)
This is the way!
 
Land based operations. These guys must have a base the leave from. Find them, take them out. Combined with a nimble coordinated naval operation. Maybe they are doing this but doesn’t seem to be working. Cooperation seems to be the issue.
 
Land based operations. These guys must have a base the leave from. Find them, take them out. Combined with a nimble coordinated naval operation. Maybe they are doing this but doesn’t seem to be working. Cooperation seems to be the issue.
Hence the reason many nations have Marines or Naval Infantry
 
Land based operations. These guys must have a base the leave from. Find them, take them out. Combined with a nimble coordinated naval operation. Maybe they are doing this but doesn’t seem to be working. Cooperation seems to be the issue.
The issue is that the West "partners" with the local authorities and organizations like the UN and AU but then leaves them to do the dirty work unsupervised.

You want these things sorted properly, you need to also get your hands dirty. That means small teams embedded with the locals and active participation in their combat operations and not just training and money.
 
As this thread seems to be generating discussion, just a reminder about the great big piracy thread (54 pages) that kept our attention over the span of several years. Though it's focus was mainly on the threat from Somalia pirates, it occasionally turned to the other locales (including West Africa) of piracy activity.

EDIT: Merged, thank you. Bruce
 
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The issue is that the West "partners" with the local authorities and organizations like the UN and AU but then leaves them to do the dirty work unsupervised.

You want these things sorted properly, you need to also get your hands dirty. That means small teams embedded with the locals and active participation in their combat operations and not just training and money.
The problem is in Africa a lot of places are very weary of European/Westerners coming in armed and trying to "help" them. The exploitation of colonialism still is fresh in their minds. Unfortunately a lot of those countries have traded European abuse for China's abuse.

The US knows this and has SOCAFRICA under USAFRICOM conducting operations by, with and through partner forces in a traditional Green Beret role of building trust and sharing hardships. They could probably put ODAs in every country there and still not make a big dent in the extremism though...
 
Danish military forces on a anti-piracy mission killed four pirates in a gun battle in the Gulf of Guinea this week, Denmark’s Defence Command reported.

 
No doubt some will try to paint them as poor vagrants just in need a some bottles of water…

The reality is that whether there are bosses back in land, setting out in a go fast with RPGs and AK-47s is not a move for innocent people.

Play stupid games, win crazy prizes.
 
No doubt some will try to paint them as poor vagrants just in need a some bottles of water…

The reality is that whether there are bosses back in land, setting out in a go fast with RPGs and AK-47s is not a move for innocent people.

Play stupid games, win crazy prizes.
Yes I quite agree
 

No one hurt.

Must've been awesome for the boarding party. Sounds odd, but at the end of the day, we train to do the job, and when all the pirates have are blades, you know it's relatively low risk.

@Admins: necroposting since it's essentially the same topic, thread could be renamed to "All things piracy" or some such.
 

No one hurt.

Must've been awesome for the boarding party. Sounds odd, but at the end of the day, we train to do the job, and when all the pirates have are blades, you know it's relatively low risk.

@Admins: necroposting since it's essentially the same topic, thread could be renamed to "All things piracy" or some such.

Desperate people in an enclosed space with knives are never ‘relatively low risk’. Not to say the op wouldn’t have been cool to be a part of, but clearing that kind of space where someone getting close enough to make a knife count was a real possibility would have been hairy.

BZ to the troops who did the op. Sounds like it was well done.
 

What about a containerised anti-missile system comprising a 20' control seacan with radar and coms etc plus a pair of launcher seacans loaded on the top layer (fore and aft) that can easily be transshipped at sea (slung or by onboard crane) along with the usual section of shooters and a pair of (FPV and recon) drone operators would work well. Operate under a nations weapons laws that allow .50 to 14.5 HMG and MANPADS/ATGMS in self defense.

Much more expensive than the current contractor/small arms method but the risk and methods used by Houti militia's are a lot higher than when it was just Somali pirates. Would have to be well under the cost of the ship going the route around Africa though before shippers would try it. Likely with additional transit insurance and ransom payment guarantee coverage.
'containerised' CIWS trucks on 40' vehicle sleds - one fore/port the other aft/starboard tech exists, but might be a bit over-the-top.

 
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I'm certainly not familiar with maritime law but I have to believe that becoming an armed merchant ship under the control of no state has to have implications. This doesn't even consider factors such as training, authority (they're still a 'fishing vessel' until they aren't) and handling storage at port (if you would even be allowed into some ports). Admittedly, the latest Houthi tactics are at a new level. Can't they water cannon a helicopter into sea?
 
I'm certainly not familiar with maritime law but I have to believe that becoming an armed merchant ship under the control of no state has to have implications. This doesn't even consider factors such as training, authority (they're still a 'fishing vessel' until they aren't) and handling storage at port (if you would even be allowed into some ports). Admittedly, the latest Houthi tactics are at a new level. Can't they water cannon a helicopter into sea?
Water cannon possible but very very difficult. Definitely with standard maritime fire suppression gear. And with your crew unprotected against armed helicopters/commandos.


You only need to worry about ports if you enter their waters. On the high sea you are subject to the laws of the state the ship is flagged in. The existing ship defense contractor in the linked WarZone article follow UK law. As long as the teams mothership is legal in it's home port you are fine.

"Q-ships" are something else again, but are generally at least maritime militia if not Naval vessles. Read up on the convoy protection strategies used for Lend-Lease ships heading to Murmansk in WW2. Civilian ships with embarked naval gun crews and 4" or better guns on attached deck mounts. The story of convoy PQ17 is unforgettable.

gettyimages-646313772-612x612.jpg

There is even a classification for these ships, "DEMS" (Defense Equipped Merchant Ships) and not all of them were flagged to countries at war at the time. I suspect there is Maritime Law specific to them on the books. What is old is new again within war zones.



"Embarking military detachments to operate defensive and offensive weapons might be another acceptable alternative. Over the past few decades, the combat logistics force has transitioned from USS ships, to USNS ships embarking military detachments (MILDETS) run by a junior surface warfare officer, and now to primarily USNS ships with no MILDETS. When embarked, MILDETS mostly handled command and control (C2) functions. Many of these roles have been absorbed by CIVMARS, but others, like operating self-defense weapons, are still supported by embarked Navy security teams.

It’s possible that arming a CLF ship and operating its weapons systems with a MILDET, without reclassifying it as USS could put a ship’s status as naval auxiliary in jeopardy during hostilities. However, like merchant shipping that was targeted during the World Wars, that becomes largely an irrelevant academic argument once ordnance starts flying and logistics ships become primary targets themselves."

Published in 2016. The deliberate targeting of civilian vessels by militaries is now happening - not only by Russia in the Black Sea. 🥺 The Houti are an organised military force, unlike the Somali pirates.
 
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