Steel Mesh Cast net to be thrown using a mechanical arm. This net (if aimed properly) will drop over the pirate boat, and should allow the targeted vessel time for evasive manoeuvres. The net should be large enough to completely cover a 28 foot fishing vessel, with weights, to make it difficult to get out of quickly enough.
-- senatorjam, Jun 23 2010

A mechanised arm to throw a larger version of this.... http://www.perfectcirclenetthrower.com/
The Perfect Circle Net Thrower [senatorjam, Jun 23 2010]

"It all happened so fast. These Somalis came up in little dinghies, swarmed over the rail and held guns to us. They were everywhere - on the bridge, in the hold, going through our stuff. Then, before we knew it, they made copies of our DVDs and vanished into the night."

</unoriginal>
-- pertinax, Jun 23 2010


Ships at sea are entitled to defend themselves.

Presumably, they have someone on the bridge 24/7 to make sure that the ship doesn't bang into anything expensive.

The trick would probably be to hire three extra people, called "lookouts", working three watches, with one pair of good daytime binoculars, one pair of night vision binoculars, and a .50 cal Browning with a few belts of ammo.

Question: how many armed maritime patrol vessels have been ambushed and taken over by Somali pirates ?

Sorted.
-- 8th of 7, Jun 23 2010


//Sorted//
sp. "escalated"
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jun 23 2010


// escalated //

... as in, "It felt like someone had dropped a two storey set of heavy duty electrically-powered moving metal stairs on me" ?

Yes, that would be about right. Repeat after us, "We Were Cleaning It And It Went Off ...."
-- 8th of 7, Jun 23 2010


IIRC those pirates have been getting away with seizing commercial vessels at gunpoint and collecting ransom money before getting back in thier boats and sailing off.

It's common knowledge that the pirates find safe harbour (allegedly in Somalia) but every government denounces the pirates' activities.

So why hasn't anyone (usually Uncle Sam but why not any other nation with a decent navy whose citizens have fallen foul of the pirates) just wait until the pirates are back in their boat and sailing away and blow them to bits in the water? (Notwitstanding the relatively minor pollution resulting from the debris) who would dare object?

The key is waiting until they have completed their undeniably criminal act before acting. Any government claiming its citizens have been attacked in this action immediately claims responsibility for the piracy.

Not only would this act as a serious deterrent for other would-be pirates in the area, it immediately reduces the active pirate population.
-- Tulaine, Jun 23 2010



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