# Cargo ships are often very large, how can Somali pirates stop them, and board them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893 "2008-05-03T15:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/21 "2008-05-04T14:55:11Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] What cargo in general is a preferred target for pirates? [/QUOTE] As I understand it, it tends to be either the ship’s safe, the crew’s ransom, or, occasionally, takings from one or two containers. I’m willing to let the aspect of ship height go. I suspect that the RPGs are the better option for pirates. Just threaten to destory the bridge, (or the rudder if the ship is not fully burdened), and then to begin working on the crew compartments while shooting anyone who shows their face over the rail. The threat is probably enough for most ships, who will then hang a ladder over the side to allow the pirates to board. Here are two separate incidents of attacks on tankers, [successful](http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/11/japan.piracy.ap/index.html) and [unsuccessful](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrsxLWvG6EE). In the successful attack, the target was a 6300 ton tanker which would have had no significant freeboard since it was loaded. In the unsuccesful attack, the pirates were apparently unable to seriously damage the hull (and either ran out of rockets, had bad aim, or did not think to target the bridge and superstructure), and the high-riding 150,000 ton tanker pretty much ignored them. The French cruise ship _[Le Ponant](http://www.zeco.com/about/le-ponant.asp)_ was siezed in January, but, as you can see, it is both susceptible to threats against its passengers, cabins, and rigging and it is not that high out of the water. (We are not talking about the QM 2, here.) There appear to have been only two cruise ship attacks all together, the other occurring [November 5, 2005](http://www.cruisebruise.com/Michael_Groves.html). The 1988 attack on the _City of Poros_ is sometimes lumped with pirate attacks, but it was a terrorist operation where the attackers boarded as passengers. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/22 "2008-05-04T22:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] Incidents are rare, extra crew trained in weapons handling have a cost, as do the weapons required. The amount taken is usually small (often just the content of the ship’s safe). The millions of dollars of cargo on board is irrelevant: it takes massive cranes, large amounts of manpower, and specialised wharf facilities to load and unload large modern vessels. How precisely are the pirates in their little fast boat going to offload it? It’s not a big problem in 99% of the world. [/QUOTE] By comparison, I was amazed to read in Science News some time ago that 10,000 shipping containers are lost overboard every year. If that number is accurate, the loss incurred by a few pirates is hardly significant. Before hiring mercenary marines, a ship operator might better invest in stronger tie downs and/or better crew training and inspection. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/23 "2008-05-04T23:49:33Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] By comparison, I was amazed to read in Science News some time ago that 10,000 shipping containers are lost overboard every year. If that number is accurate, the loss incurred by a few pirates is hardly significant. Before hiring mercenary marines, a ship operator might better invest in stronger tie downs and/or better crew training and inspection. [/QUOTE] Plus pirates by and large don’t take containers, as I said. The “10,000” per year is disputed. The TT Club which insure most of the world’s container fleet says [2000 a year](http://www.veromarine.co.nz/dirvz/marine/marine.nsf/content/photofeature0007). Lashing design is a compromise between strength and speed of lash/unlash. Plus it doesn’t matter _how_ strongly you lash the container strongpoints if the strongpoints themselves rip out. Which they will if green water comes over the deck. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/24 "2008-05-05T00:06:23Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] Which they will if green water comes over the deck. [/QUOTE] That is the problem with having all that unrtrained water in the oceans. Seasoned water knows to stay below the ship where it belongs, but you get that green, untrained water out in the open seas and, right away, it wants to run up on deck. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/25 "2008-05-05T00:22:51Z")
It likes the view ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/26 "2008-10-06T14:55:29Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m surprised that in light of all the recent piracy that these types of vessels don’t arm their crews and/or post lookouts when they know they are in an area that’s considered a risk for piracy. How many guys would it take to really provide security? 4 guys with M-16’s to shoot the boarders off their grapples? One fore, one aft, one port and one starboard? > I suppose I’m assuming that the entire sides of the ship are traversible on foot which may not be the case. And I also suppose that firing small arms at the boarders might engender an escalatory response from the guys manning the grenade launchers on the pirate boat. > But still. If I owned a company that transported millions of dollars worth of products on the open seas, I would have a small security detachment on board if we had to travel anywhere near known pirate areas. In addition to the cost/benefit analysis discussed above, I would think that sailors might be less interested in working for you when they find out that one of their job duties is getting into shootouts with pirates. Keep in mind that if the shipowner escalates by having people try to shoot the boarders, the pirates will quickly respond in kind by having their own guys with M-16s trying to shoot your guys with M-16s, and so forth. As others have mentioned, your employees probably don’t consider protecting your cargo to be a cause worth getting shot over. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/27 "2008-10-06T15:42:31Z")
We’ve got a new thread on this topic here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10280413](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10280413) ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893/28 "2008-10-06T16:15:54Z")
Sorry – posted in the wrong thread by accident. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cargo-ships-are-often-very-large-how-can-somali-pirates-stop-them-and-board-them/447893.md?page=1)