convoys as a cure for pirates?

Posted By: McLovinB (November 27, 2008 at 4:30 PM)
I see many posts advocating acts of war against innocent people, invasion of sovereign countries, etc. These are hideous, knee-jerk responses. Arming the ships will just put more weapons beyond the control of governments and in a volatile area of the world.

The best solution is the use of convoys.

This pirate area is a small corridor through which ships can be escorted by armed vessels. The armed ships can meet with merchant vessels at rendez vous points at either end of the corridor. Once or twice a day, the convoys can move through en masse. If any pirate vessels attack, the armed vessels can engage and destroy, or at least coordinate a response from other vessels.

This is a cheap, easily coordinated solution that can be arranged legally and multinationally. There will be no collateral damage, no civilian casualties, no cases of mistaken identity, and no engagements in the national waters of any nation.

A system of payments from shipping countries could even be arranged to defray the costs. Each convoy ship could be assessed a charge based on photographs or other means.

I offer my apologies that it is not excting. It is unlikely to make a good Michael Bay movie, but it will solve the problem safely and efficiently.