“I don’t think we can sustain the level of operation we’ve got down there forever,” said Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald did not indicate the Navy would abandon the mission any time soon. Instead, his remarks suggest that the answer to piracy may lie elsewhere – especially if it becomes a more violent activity. He says the shipping industry should ensure it is doing everything to deter attacks, including hiring armed security guards, as well as taking other nonlethal actions to thwart pirates.
“The maritime industry has got to make a decision about how seriously they want to take this on,” he said, in a roundtable discussion with reporters at the Pentagon this week.
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Could this be a planned strategic communications, to coincide with the Executive Order on piracy? Because if it is, I am hearing the message loud and clear. The Navy is getting the memo from DC that chasing pirates costs money, and Destroyers chasing after pirates armed with RPGs in little motorized rowboats is not the most cost effective or best long term solution to the problem.
But telling the shipping industry to hire security is a solution, and that is exactly what Admiral Fitzgerald said. So the U.S. administration signs an executive order, and the U.S. Navy is wanting to reduce their pirate hunting operations do to cost or practicality? I guess this means that the Navy will stop playing those ‘Master and Commander’ themed commercials on AFN? lol –Matt
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Navy looks for ways other than armed patrols to fight Somali pirates
A top admiral says US Navy armed patrols can’t chase Somali pirates indefinitely. Other ways must be found to get to the source of piracy off the coast of Somalia.
By Gordon LuboldApril 16, 2010
The US Navy will be unable to continue long-term operations against pirates off the coast of Somalia, and it’s looking for other ways to solve the growing problem, according to a top admiral.
As Somali pirates continue to find attacking cargo ships in the West Indian Ocean profitable, they have become more and more aggressive, forcing the international community to send naval ships from more than a dozen countries to help patrol the vast waters off Somalia.