Solving the Somalia Piracy Problem - Debate Here...

by Confucious 32 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Confucious

  Hey Friends...

  Ok. I'm NOT saying that I have the solution to the Somalia Piracy Problem.

  Saturday's Wall Street Journal had a whole article on this.

  He's my solution. Debate me, add to it, or come up with your own solution.

  But the problem seems to that "people" are obviously paying the ransom demands.

  Lets face it... you have $100 Million in Oil - Pirates sieze the ship - and they ask for 10 Million or they blow up the ship.

  So basically, the peeps that own it - kind of feel like it's some kind of "cost of doing business' thing.

  Ok.. my solution:

  A 1 percent tax on the gross of every shippment there. But this tax gives you two thing:

  1) An insurance policy on your shipment with at 5 percent deductable (what you would have paid the pirates anyway).

  2) Additional protection by a Intenational Pirate Police.

  A Pirate Police that not only patrols the area - but attack and kills without negotiation.

  This is how it works...

  Lets say you have 10 ships going by there a year. Each shipment has $100 Million in Cargo or Oil or Whatever.

  You pay the the International Pirate Police $10 Million.

  But if ANY of the ships get hijacked... you pay a deductable of 5% or 5 million.

  But if the Pirate Police fails - your ship is insured for the whole $100 Million.

  This would do:

  1) Make it so the pirates KNOW that they can't negotiate anymore.

  2) The Pirate Police would be so well trained - because if they failed to rescue the ship - they would end up having to pay for it anyway.

  3) For 1 percent of your gross - you would insure your shipments.

  Your thoughts.

  Confucious
• 

  IP_SEC

  There really is only one fix.

  Let raise the price of oil.

  OPEC will then stop paying 'pirates' to 'seize' tankers. (less oil making it to refinery/higher price per barrel. Get it?)

  No im not kidding.
• 

  Gregor

  I read the same article and it recounted the experience of the US in the early days of the nation with a piracy problem in the waters off north Africa, the Barbary coast. They first paid "duty" but that didn't work so they finally went over to the countries that were hosting the pirates and whipped their ass. This gave the Europeans the courage to start armed resistance also. They soon had the problem under control. The situation today is that the countries who are suffering the losses, like Saudi Arabia ( a bunch of rich pussies) don't have the will or the forces to resist so they are going to ship around the troubled area at great expense. Guess who will pay?
• 

  Gregor

  So here is my solution. Start equipping some ships with modern weapons and a few mercenaries and see what happens when boatloads of pirates go out to hunt and never come back.
• 

  Honesty

  Go around Africa instead of using the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.
• 

  Confucious

  Good comments so far.

  Actually, I'm surprised there isn't an armed ship going side by side with this.

  I've been on cruise ships where it seemed that there was the Coast Guard nearby or some ship protecting us.

  Con
• 

  foreverfree

  So here is my solution. Start equipping some ships with modern weapons and a few mercenaries and see what happens when boatloads of pirates go out to hunt and never come back.

  That makes the most sense to me. Just kill the bastards.
• 

  PopeOfEruke

  Well the pirates haven't killed anyone yet, they live in a country with no government and no food, now they are able to feed their starving families with the money they make from piracy. If YOU were in the same position, with your wife and kids starving, would you not do whatever you could to feed them? Why don't the frikkin' Arabs donate some money and help rebuild the country?? Just my $0.02 worth. Pope
• 

  BurnTheShips

  Make it so the pirates KNOW that they can't negotiate anymore.

  Under the insurance scheme, why would they have to even negotiate, they have the cargo as booty to be sold on the black market.

  In the old days of sail, merchant vessels were armed. This was a deterrent against all but the most powerful pirate vessels. Also, traveling dangerous waters in convoy can be a deterrent. The Indian Navy just sent a pirate "mother ship" to the bottom. Best way to deal with the problem, IMHO.

  BTS
• 

  Gregor

  Pope, Attempts to help the starving people of Somalia or any similar country are always thwarted by the warlords, criminal gangs and corruption divert every dime and every cup of rice to themselves. Piracy is nothing compared to the problem of feeding starving people in these countries.