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I recently wrote and article about the rise in the amount of pirate ship attacks on sea freight ships off the coast of Somali. The bad news is that the problem just seems to be getting worse by the week and people’s patience is growing thin. I wondered, how hard can it be to avoid a pirate ship attack, I mean, you’re on a massive cargo ship and surely you can just pull out a few pieces of heavy artillery and blow them away as soon as they come within a few hundred yards of you?

Alas, it seems the pirate ships are prepared for anything and have heavy artillery of their own which they threaten to use should you not follow their instructions. Here are some of the tactics they use and some of the tactics that cargo ship crews have been trained to use in defending themselves and their cargo form these pirates…

Tactics used by the pirates:

Pirate ships are well equipped with rocket launchers, speedboats and satellite navigation equipment. Their primary goal is to get their ships within shooting range of a cargo ship, contact the ship and threaten to open fire if their demands aren’t met. In order to possess this power, they need to get within 200 – 300 meters of the cargo ship. Once in this range, they approach the ships in smaller speedboats which they use to transport cargo quickly and effectively.

So how can cargo ships avoid being attacked?

The primary form of defense is to spot the pirate’s ships before they get to near. Once a pirate ship has been spotted, the cargo ship is in a position to alert the closest navy and take evasive action by speeding up and getting their crew prepared for a possible attack.

Cargo ships are advised to travel at least 600 nautical miles off the coast to ensure that they do not cross the path of any pirate ships. Crew and captains are well trained in defending a ship without the use of lethal force. Their ships are protected by barbed wire around the parameter of the ship which helps stop pirates from boarding.

If ships are caught out, they are advised to increase their speed in order to create choppiness around the ship which makes it difficult for speedboats to get too close to the ships. This can sometimes be effective if a pirate ship does get within range and enable its speedboats to get even closer.

Despite the fact that many South African cargo ships are already making use of armed guards on board their ships, maritime orginisations have advised them to leave armed attack to the navies that patrol the pirate ship hotspots.

A recent invention called a LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) is a non-lethal form of defense. This mechanism invented by American Technology Corporation (ATO) has the ability to warn off pirates who are not responding to radio warnings. The device is able to disorient pirate ships and avoid them from coming too close to a cargo ship by letting off what can be best described as a sonic boom in the direction of the pirates. This is a piece of equipment that has been used in the past to control large crowds who are out of control.

The fact is that despite these well drilled efforts that have been instilled in captains and ship crew, many a pirate ship is still ruling the seas around Somali. Something needs to be done soon in order to deter them. Until then, let’s just hope all the ships passing the area are well prepared and manage to avoid any financial or more importantly, physical damage.

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