The Panther Bay
Pirate Blog

I ran across a recent editorial in the Bangkok Post lamenting the ongoing piratical activities off the cost of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean. Despite the efforts of the European Union and contingents of naval forces from many nations, including the Thai navy, four Thai vessels and 77 Thai seamen are still the hands of pirates awaiting ransom. Overall, the pirates now hold 25 vessels and 601 hostages.

So far, the successful interventions disrupting pirate activities seem to be sporadic and ad hoc, not systematic. To be fair, finding pirates is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But the problem remains real and persistent.

This begs the following thought: At the end of the day, it may be up to the shipping companies to staff their vessels with a real deterrants such as private security forces that can confront the pirates directly and effectively. A coordinated, top-down strategy may not be the most effective one. Rather, a decentralized approach at the ship-level may be the only way to create a meaningful deterrant. Mobilizing frigates and destroyers may create a substantial visible presence in ports of call, but a few well armed security forces on a ship may be more effective.

This approach has other advantages. Shipping companies can choose the strategies that they seem would be most effective. Some companies may want to convoy ships. Other comapnies may want to stay with individualized or ship-level customized security arrangements. Still others (and I'm not advocating this) might decide they are just willing to pay the ransom given the risks.

Regardless, I think a decentralized approach may be more effective than a centralized one given the vastness of the problem and the economics involved.