I don’t care what any of the experts think on this one. It doesn’t take a defense analyst or a counter piracy expert to look at these two stories, and the one I posted about the chemical tanker and fertilizer ship being taken, and deduct that the current strategy is not working.
Look at this first story I posted below. The Dutch capture 13 pirates, and they had to release them because no one wanted to deal with them? And then they had to give them food and fuel so they could ‘make it home alright’? How sweet of us. Pfffft. This is lunacy. No wonder this whole piracy thing is increasing, because it is the ultimate criminal venture to be in.
The next story really spells out the failure of the strategy. We have a massive flotilla of navies from all over the world, that costs millions of dollars to operate every day, and this is what we get out of that investment? An increase in successful pirate operations? Who the hell is in charge of this mess?
The strategy I propose is pretty simple. Make it mandatory that all ships have armed security, and they all have the means to contact a Naval quick reaction force via protected communications. Put the cost of security and proper communications on the shipping industry, and only use a few key Naval vessels for back up. If a ship gets into a fight with pirates, then they put out the distress call to the closest strategically placed Naval QRF, and do the best they can to hang on until they get there. Hell, we could just have armed drones flying around all day to act as back up. But just as long as there is competent and well armed security on these boats, then this will give the boats enough time to out maneuver the pirates or hang on until help gets on station.
We could also hunt them down at sea, but good luck with that. It would take thousands of boats, canvasing the sea, all with the right to search and seize vessels. Even then, these pirates will just hide on a fishing vessel and pretend to be safe, until the hunting vessels are gone. I say if we are going to hunt them, then you use really good bait, which is why it is so important to have armed ships with a Naval QRF to back them up. That QRF should also be in the form of aviation, and not some slow cruising boat that would take an hour to get where it needs to be. That is my idea of a a QRF on the ocean.
The second part of my strategy is all about dealing with the land problem, and that requires eradicating any threats to the government, and giving the government the time and support necessary in order to establish a solid governance over the land. But it all requires a professional army to do a proper job of cleaning up that resistance, and establishing control over key corridors and areas. Anything is possible, just as long as you have the manpower and resources to contribute to the effort. You could either use a competent PMC (something similar to Executive Outcomes) or try to get an organized and well trained Army that is not busy with the current wars we are in. Good luck with that last one.
The point being, is that we really cannot be effective at sea, if we do not have a land based component of our strategy. Until we do what we have to do, these pirates will only continue to get more wealthier, more bold, more greedier, and probably more dangerous because now they can afford the good stuff. –Matt
Edit: 12/31/2009 – Further proof of the failure. Look at these numbers. (I posted the rest in the comments section)
Mr. PHAM: Unfortunately, and I hate to rain on the parades of the world’s navies, but they haven’t sent an unambiguous message. Since August of 2008 to mid December 2009, the combined navies of the world have stopped 706 pirates. Of these 706, 11 were killed in the altercations with the navies. Four hundred and eleven, however, were simply catch and release because the various countries of the world can’t agree on rules for prosecution.
And so the pirates look at this and say the chances of actually being caught and actually having to suffer some legal penalty, 46 convicted out of 706 stopped, your chances are pretty slim.
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Captured Somali pirates get away scot-free
December 18 2009
The Dutch navy frigate HNLMS Evertsen has released 13 Somali pirates who were captured earlier this month. The European Union failed to find a country willing to put them on trial on suspicion of piracy and ordered their release on Thursday.The pirates were kept in detention on the ship’s aft deck, which was “an unpleasant situation” according to the Dutch Defence Ministry. They were released near Djibouti and transferred to their own ship, which had been towed all the way by HNLMS Evertsen.
HNLMS Evertsen was part of an EU mission off the Somali coast. The men were arrested when they attempted to hijack a merchant ship.
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