Ravenwood - 11/07/05 07:00 AM
Pirates boldly attacked a cruise ship off the coast of Africa. The ship was able to elude and outrun the pirates, but Publicola suggests an alternate defense: return fire.
Even with small arms (i.e. rifles) it could have been effective. Why?Even if they were using unsinkable Boston Whalers, active resistance is always preferred. Thugs prefer easy prey, and a hail of bullets might be enough to convince pirates to look elsewhere."The British news agency Press Association said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached the liner."
Inflatable boats? I'll grant that some of the sturdier ones use multiple compartments of air filled cells & are quite seaworthy, but a clip from a Garand in each would have caused enough damage to slow them down if not sink them.
Category: Defending Your Life
Comments (5) top link me
Maritime law has some goofy rules on carrying firearms. The average yacht owner probably has more leeway in what they can carry versus a commercial carrier.
The way it was explained to me was that you either used less-than-lethal means to prevent being boarded, (firehoses, pepper gas sprayers, electric anti-boarding netting)) or you had to wait until they were aboard before you could use deadly force. Legally, you couldn't 'project deadly force' beyond the boundaries of the ship.
Sounds awfully silly to me. I'd think every tanker and container ship wouldbe better off having a Bofors gun and a couple of CIWS turrets aboard.
Posted by: El Capitan at November 7, 2005 12:01 PMCouple of Mossbergs and a BAR could do wonders...
Posted by: Robert Garrard at November 7, 2005 1:06 PMNot sure who there is to enforce the law . . . but in any case, the reason they don't use firearms as a main means of defense on tankers is fear of explosion.
On some, its less of a fear, but on others - especially those carrying gas or refined petroleum (which are encompassing an ever larger share of tanker traffic) the fear of monumental explosion from a ruptured hull is real (its also one of the reasons that pirates don't usually fire weapons at the super tankers either).
Posted by: countertop at November 7, 2005 1:28 PMCould it be they are terorists? Since we know the LSM is not going to tell the truth, put it together. It's off the coast of Samolia, which is run by warlord Islamic terrorists. Not hard really.
Next week they will be insurgents.
Posted by: bill at November 7, 2005 1:39 PMEl Capitan,
If someone is shooting RPGs at me, I'm not about to wait until they're on board to return fire. If they want to try me for projecting deadly force, so be it. But it's not like the pirates are going to file a complaint.
Posted by: Ravenwood at November 7, 2005 7:49 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
