Pirates!

Big news recently about a cruise ship that was attacked by pirates off of Somalia. Really nothing new, Somalia is bad, South China Sea (Indonesia) is worse. The media is fickle and they seem to have latched onto this one for some reason.

The short version, best as I can tell, is that two small open boats, each with 4-5 Somalis, tried to commandeer a cruise ship about 100 miles offshore using automatic rifles and an RPG launcher. They hit the ship with at least one RPG (no word on how many were fired), no one was hurt, and the cruise ship increased speed and escaped with minor damage.

Apparently, the crusie was also equipped with a “sonic weapon”. A very vague reference, but having thought a good deal about pirate defense for my future boat, one that immediately got my attention. Official line is, “We don’t comment on weaponry” (awesome), but I found an article here that talks about it.

It’s made by American Technology Corp, weighs 45 lbs., costs $30k, and is designed to “deliver instruction or directions to faraway individuals as well as unpleasant blasts of sound”, the latter apparently with “remarkable results”. On their website this feature is described as an “attention-getting and highly irritating warning tone for behavior modification”.

What I want to know, is can I get this as a gun? Or better yet, as an attachment to a real gun? Like the one I’m going to be aiming and will start shooting if I don’t start seeing some behavior modification after about 30 seconds of warning tone.

My approach to the threat of piracy, as well as most threats in life, is superior firepower. A while back I told my friend Andy of my desire to obtain an RPG for my own boat’s “weaponry”. He aptly pointed out that I’d likely get killed or spend a significant amount of time in Central American prison for my efforts. So instead I’m focusing on more conventional and accessible weapons, like shotguns and full-auto AR-15s.

Piracy is born of that special combination of desperation, lawlessness, and stupidity most often found in 3rd world countries. With a few exceptions of specialized piracy where cargo ships have been targeted, generally they are looking for soft and high-value targets: unarmed cruise ships and yachts. I’m pretty sure a simple display of resistance like firing a weapon in the air (would need some tracers for a night-time display) would serve as an effective deterrent. If they did bring an RPG, I bet they’d have a real tough time hitting anything smaller than a cruise ship from a moving boat. I’d take my chances with a shotgun.

Of course there are legal considerations. Not the boatload of dead Somalis. Nobody is going to miss them. My biggest concern is about getting arrested or having the boat impounded for illegal “weaponry” in some civilized country that isn’t sensitive to my needs for self-defense. Like the United States.

Honey, where's the shotgun?