The Obvious Approach

Like most of you, I’ve been watching the Somali pirate saga developing, and wondering what could be done about it. Getting the Somali government to do anything about these relatively low-tech ocean-going thieves is probably futile, since the pirates are held in higher regard than any of the countries demanding their suppression, both by what passes for an official government in Somalia, and also by the Somali people themselves. Generally, these efforts have resulted in the “government” agencies siding with the pirates…

Unfortunately, so far at least, simply avoiding the area would still be more expensive than paying the increase insurance premiums (and occasionally ransom) in order to get your ships back. And frankly, asking the shipping companies to make less money because of the principle of the thing ignores the reality of business: shipping companies exist to make money, not hold firmly to their principles. The only way the situation is going to change is either for the various navy units (ours and those of other nations who are fed up with these criminals) to hunt down the pirates or for someone to come up with a lower-cost solution to the problem…

I was therefore very glad to read about an Italian cruise line that appears to have found just such an answer. In a story being reported by The Associated Press, it would appear that a group of Somali pirates attempted to attack one of the line’s passenger ships on Saturday, only to be driven off by gunfire and water cannon fire from the ship’s Israeli security personnel, who had in fact been hired for just such a contingency. While the security force was limited to handguns and fire hoses, it’s difficult to climb a ladder while someone is shooting at you (or blasting at you with a hose), and the pirates eventually gave up…

It remains to be seen if this will work out on a larger scale, however. Putting extra personnel on a cargo ship isn’t likely to be cost-effective (there are too many ships), and the various shipping companies have to worry about violating local gun laws when their ships make port. Still, I can’t help wishing that we could put small Marine detachments aboard every U.S.-flagged ship that passes through the area for a year or so. Or even every 10th or 12th one. With orders to kill any pirate who comes into range and sink their miserable little boats, too. I suspect that as soon as word got around, no one would be attacking anything flying a U.S. flag…

Alternately, I suppose, various countries could just contract the work out to the Israelis, who would probably be happy for both the positive foreign exchange and the public relations benefits. It has the potential for huge savings, improved international relations, and safer high seas travel, with the Somali pirates as the only losers, even potentially. And it would certainly be cheaper than the 60-ship international naval task force the experts are saying would be necessary to actually patrol the sea lanes in that part of the world…

Of course, the fact that the cruise line hired Israeli security personnel because “they are the best trained” is an excellent example of how a brand name works – in this case, the “brand” being an entire nation of people who have earned their reputation for being tough customers who don’t put up with much. But that’s a post for another day…