Back on Friday, Perry de Havilland wrote this about Somali pirates:
…simply hire people from Private Military Organisations to man the weapons. Two belt fed 50 cal machine guns per merchant ships should be quite sufficient. This is a trivial threat and dealing with it is a trivially easy matter that if left to the market would be solved in a matter of weeks.
Seems like he’s been proved right.
Private security guards on board an Italian cruise ship carrying 1,500 passengers and crew fired pistols and used water hoses to fight off an attack by Somali pirates.
[...]
A team of Israeli guards hired by the vessel’s owners immediately began firing back with pistols and spraying the attackers with fire hoses.
It is believed to be one of the first times that a non-military ship with private security aboard has used firearms to deter a pirate attack.
“It felt like we were in a war,” said Commander Ciro Pinto, the Melody’s captain.
“They tried to put up a ladder with hooks. They were climbing up, so we reacted. We started firing. When they saw us firing – we even sprayed them with water with the fire-hose – they gave up and went off.”
[...]
But ships with arms onboard are not allowed to dock at non-military ports.
To bypass this rule, some operators are hiring private security teams who board as the ship enters a risky stretch of water and leave once the danger has passed.
Great stuff! Thanks to the Englishman for the link.