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Air Cannon Ties Pirates In Knots
Hugh Pickens writes "Numerous high-tech devices have been proposed to help ships cope with piracy on the high seas. Now a company has developed a ship-borne launching device that fires a net or coiled rope into the path of pirate vessels using compressed air with a range of up to a range of 400m. The payload net or rope, which has a parachute attached to the end, will unravel and lay out across the surface of the water so that as the pirate boat travels through the water its propeller shaft will pick up the line and become entangled. 'With the trials and testing we've done, it has taken us some 45 minutes to cut and disentangle the line from the propeller itself,' says Jonathan Delf. 'Within that time of course, the target ship is on its way and hopefully help has arrived in the form of naval forces or helicopter support.' The system can be fired up to five times off just a cylinder of air like a simple scuba tank." The video mentions that the device can also fire a payload of golf balls. The systems have recently been sold to "several large shipping companies that travel near the oil-rich Nigerian Delta, which, like the Somalian coast, is rife with piracy."
Just shoot the fuckers already. Pretty soon there won't be any more of them.
Are we really that politically correct now that even killing a pirate is wrong?
Pirates. Not a down-trodden minority.
Kill them. All of them.
It's the right thing to do.
Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48, and am what some people call "mentally retarded".
What is going to keep the pirates from using something like this to their advantage?
The same thing that keeps car thieves from slashing the tires of cars they plan to steal.
And if you shot fishermen or other innocent people by accident?
Self defense its self is politically incorrect these days...
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
It also won't work against pirates riding trained sharks, which you're about as likely to see.
Before you attempt to kill them, you have to be certain that they are a pirate. Legally certain, not just Slashdot certain.
Fouling their prop doesn't require quite such a high standard of proof, and gets the job done, at least till they get their hands on some jet boats.
It's also not too smart for a pirate to escalate from a small disabled boat -- if someone on that ship had some means of firing back, that could only be deployed against proven pirates, well, you just gave them proof.
No.
There's no trick to it.
If you're approaching a large commercial ship of any kind, plying its trade in the waters off the coast of East Africa, and you continue to ignore the many and varied warnings to do otherwise, you deserve to get shot. The innocent people you're concocting out of thin air for the sake of juvenile, devil's advocate, argumentation... is breathtakingly naive.
I have a feeling you're a part of the Confetti Generation.
Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48, and am what some people call "mentally retarded".
I'd say that if the people in a small boat are shooting Kalashnikovs at you, it would be safe to assume they are not innocent people.
Queue the 1/2" kevlar rope! A quarter mile of the stuff ought to do the trick. The worst part about lines jamming the propeller is that the line gets coiled up in the space between where the propeller and the hull meet, and the motion causes the prop to pull the propshaft out of the boat (with the engine attached). This causes what's called a "through hull hole", aka an "oh shit!" circumstance, wherein the boat sinks as the engine room fills with water. The rope doesn't even have to be particularly strong to do this. This isn't as big of a problem for outboard motors (what the pirates use) but it does cause problems for them with fouled props, etc.
moox. for a new generation.
Are we really that politically correct now that even killing a pirate is wrong?
Oh you can kill them but there are a few things to consider first:
That said if you can shoot them dead, I'm pretty sure no one will mind. Provided you are in international waters AND you can prove your case that you didn't just murder someone AND you can explain why your ship is armed AND you can somehow figure out a way to kill a group of pirates that out numbers yours and is probably better armed.
But fishing line is a big problem in protecting marine animals; it seems like intentionally stranding hundreds of yards of the stuff might have some negative impacts on the surrounding aquatic life.
Considering that the RPG7 (very high tech for a Somali pirate) is not considered accurate after 100 metres, sure. Most of them will have the older Soviet rocket launchers (read: Ancient (Vietnam era) and made by the Chinese before they had today's high standards in manufacturing (hint: that's sarcasm)).
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I don't understand why everybody is hung up on this fear of 'making mistakes'. Why is it every time that somebody suggests arming potential victims somebody else comes along and starts worrying about friendly fire? It rarely works out that way in the real world. It's even less likely in a maritime setting.
Just stop and think about it for a moment. Small craft do not follow merchant ships around for no reason. They have a pretty good incentive to steer clear of them. When approached, the merchant ship will respond with a hailing device. If it's some innocent situation then this fact will be discovered fairly quickly. If the small craft is filled with guys armed with AK-47s whom match every change in course then it's a fairly safe assumption that they have nefarious intent.
Putting arms in the hands of the good guys does not turn them into trigger happy nutjobs that kill random innocent people at the slightest provocation. The three concepts that I outlined above are standard operating procedure for police departments and armed civilians around the world. This isn't rocket science.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
From now on, whenever you think "lethal weapons on civilian ships would stop piracy", I want you to consider that this is the same as "lots of armed Chinese marines in Los Angeles Harbor would stop piracy". Then put yourself in the shoes of a President trying to push some kind of international convention permitting that.
Thank you.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
I served in the Navy on a supply ship at the end of the Gulf War. Non-rated seaman, oh joy.
Since we were a non-combatant ship, we only had a few GMs on board. As a result, the gun mount crews were mostly manned by us deck apes.
I was on a .50 mount as assistant loader. Every time we went to General Quarters we had to fully assemble the guns, which were kept in airtight lockers near the actual mount. Open the locker, remove the weapon, set it in place, slide in a half-dozen keyed pins, load and lock and you're ready to rock. Takes all of 60 seconds.
No salt-water corrosion problems at all, and our training was minimal.