Shipowners turn to AK-47s to deter sea pirates

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Average ransom payments jumped to $5.4m last year, from $150,000 in 2005

Average ransom payments jumped to $5.4m last year, from $150,000 in 2005

Shipping companies are turning to guards armed with AK-47 assault rifles to protect vessels from pirates, a trade group for security professionals said, after record numbers of attacks last year added $2.4bn to costs.

About 20 percent of ships operating in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden will use armed guards within the next 18 months, up from 12 percent now, Peter Cook, a spokesman for the Security Association for the Maritime Industry, said in London after a presentation by the newly created group Tuesday.

Average ransom payments jumped to $5.4m last year, from $150,000 in 2005, Louisville, Colorado-based One Earth Future Foundation estimated in January.

Attacks off Somalia were also at an all-time high, with 49 vessels and 1,016 crew members hijacked, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

“There is a wish by some shipowners to have armed guards on board and you can’t dispute the fact they are successful,” said Andrew Bardot, secretary and executive officer of the International Group of P&I Clubs, which insures 90 percent of the world fleet against liability claims. There have been no successful hijackings on ships with armed guards, he said.

Most companies have three to five guards on their payroll and hire extra staff on a freelance basis, Cook said, adding shipowners pay about $100m a year for the services. The guards are most likely to carry AK-47s, he said.

There have been 145 attacks and 22 ships hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean so far this year, according to the International Maritime Organization, the shipping division of the United Nations.

Somali pirates added at least $2.4bn to transportation costs in 2010 as ships were diverted to avoid attacks off east Africa, said One Earth, a non-profit group.

The IMO, which had advised shipowners not to hire armed guards, will probably approve vetting procedures for security companies this week, paving the way for their increased use, Cook said, adding that his group represents about one-fifth of the private contractors supplying such professionals.

“The maritime security industry wants to be regulated,” he said. The creation of a trade group for companies seeking to protect shipping will allow owners to distinguish “good maritime companies” from “entrepreneurs.”

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Posted by: Basel A-Shaban

AK-47s will not be enough to do the job, you will need to arm the security companies with RPGs and Mark 19s. You must be armed better than the pirates. The Mark 19 (AKA Mk19) is a Grenade Launcher of a 40 mm belt-fed automatically or simply a grenade machine gun, it is very simple to use and is capable of putting Gods fear back in anyones heart.

Posted by: scarlett michelle

What the shipowners must do is to hire one team of 50 caliber specialist sniper with night vision gogles. All the sniper has to do is to disable the skips (no need to engage the pirate mother ship), blow a hole to sink the pirate skips or shoot the fuel tank or disable the propeller or disable the rudder.

The main goal is to stop the pirates from boarding their ships and start holding hostage and paying ransom.

Posted by: Jake

You are mistaken if you think pirates will just run and hide. They will improve their arsenal as well. They've got millions of cash dollars and access to any weapon in the world.

This will only result in bloodshed, usually the innocent kind. Crew might not be taken hostage any longer but publicly executed.

Insurance companies are not paying millions in ransom to free the crew but for the vessels and their goods.

The solution is to block the coast of Somalia and to control any vessel approaching or departing any harbor of the Somalian Coast. That's of course if you would actually want to stop this problem/threat.

Posted by: American in Kuwait

The solution is easy; take NO prisoners, take out the Mother Ships as soon as they are spotted, have a few marksmen with a 50 cal rifle on board and shoot to kill.

Quit paying ransoms as this only perpetuates the problem.

It will all stop in a few days. If not, move all of the ships patrolling the area to blockade Somalia.

Quit being afraid to confront the pirates.

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