US firm to fight Somali pirates

[IndianaGreen]

US firm to fight Somali pirates

A US company has been given a two-year contract to help fight piracy off the Somalia coast - seen as among the world's most dangerous waters.

The $50m contract has been awarded by Somalia's transitional government.

Topcat Marine Security will target the "mother ship" launching pirate ships from the open sea, said the firm's Peter Casini.

Earlier this month, pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades at a US-based luxury cruise liner.

There have been 32 pirate attacks off the Somali coast since March this year, according to the International Maritime Board.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4471536.stm

[Porcupine]

1. Didn't we used to have things called a Navy, & Marine Corps

Does "shores of Tripoli" ring a bell. The US went to Tripoli to fight....PIRATES. Now the US Navy can't be bothered? What gives? What then is the damn Navy for?

[MADem]

2. The ships these pirates attack are not US registry vessels

You could make the argument that if US citizens are involved, there is a US interest, though. However, then there is a liability matter to consider as well if foreign nationals aboard an attacked vessel were killed or injured in the melee.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

[newblewtoo]

3. Privateers

Some interesting history:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer

[formercia]

10. It's against the law for US citizens

to work as MERCs for a foreign government.

[Solon]

12. Yeah, but has that ever stopped them before? n/t

[Pavulon]

15. Letters of Marque

go back to the revolution and allow citizens to fight with the blessing of the US ( or any other government).

[SlavesandBulldozers]

4. "we're targeting the 'mother ship'.

bwaahahahahah. what is this Waterworld?

If you know where the mothership is, why don't you - oh i don't know - sink it from afar with the various trinkets you have? Something tells me there's going to be a big 48 hours news event based around "Taking Out the Mothership", the graphics are probably already photoshopped. Plenty of videos of men rappelling onto the ship - think Jerry Bruckheimer.

[Vidar]

5. Hallibuton & Brownie to the rescue!

[Westpark1]

6. Sounds like a non-U.S. matter

Sounds like an issue for the Somali government to decide and not us since it's their territorial waters and/or their bandits and criminals they're trying to stop.

[daleo]

7. But I wonder where Somalia got the 50 million

That's a fair bit of dough in that area of the world.

[tabasco]

9. Somali government?

There is no Somali government.

I spent about a year there.

I think it is a republican paradise.

No taxes, no government, no gun control.

[Solon]

13. Libertarian paradise is more precise...

Remember, the Republicans actually like government, in bedrooms, but not in boardrooms. I wonder which warlord declared himself leader of the country this week, and where that 50 mil came from(drug money?).

[icymist]

8. Making the world safe for Disneyland, Somalia. n/t

[ovidsen]

11. Topcat Security even has a website!! (surprise)

And it even features a link to a Faux news fart. Shocking!!

http://www.topcatmarinesecurity.com/

Edit: Actually, the video link is of a WYNY-TV (Fox) New York TV news item. I know... details, details...

[rooboy]

14. I suppose it's just that bounty hunter "Dog" with a friggin' row boat. n/t

[Lost4words]

16. good place for him!

[formercia]

17. A 'Q' ship is in order

The Germans were very adept at converting a merchant ship into an armed merchant raider. Their versions could be reconfigured to look like vessels already in ship registry books, thus fooling any but the most knowledgeable captain.
The pirates wouldn't have a chance against such a vessel except to outrun it.

[sam sarrha]

18. I smell a feather in the cap of Blackw*ter.. a new $50 Million Navy.!!!

[madmark]

19. Every world security issue is an opportunity for more bushco cronyism

[sofa king]

20. It's actually the insurance companies which usually employ these mercs.

The mercs are usually former SEALs and other SOCOM types, and ship recovery is the very most high-paying job in the mercenary world--higher than "wet jobs," higher than overthrowing governments. Furthermore, as long as the "recovery efforts" take place on the high seas and outside of territorial waters, no questions are asked as to what happened to the pirates. They're fish food.

A few recovery jobs a year pay enough to make those willing to do it millionaire-territory wealthy, so there is rarely a problem with finding highly qualified and competent people.

These Topcat guys seem to be a little different, taking a security and interdiction angle. But I guarantee you that somewhere waiting in the wings is a team of former SEALs whose job it is to board and "acquire" the boats used by the pirates.