Attack Prevention
- Have a plan and practice it
- Don’t talk about the ship’s route or cargo while in port. Loose lips sink ships, ya know
- Early detection is best deterrent – use low-light binoculars, yacht radar to spot small craft, night vision devices, barbed wire on the railings
- Ships should travel with lights off
- Secure all doors
- Hire private security (preferably Israeli, if we’re to judge from the successful efforts of Israeli security agents in repelling a recent pirate attack on an Italian cruise ship) or consider having someone one board with small arms training
- Have a constant and roving security watch on deck in pirate areas, post security officer on fantail. Change security details at irregular times
- Avoid bottlenecks in shipping lanes
- Search the ship before leaving port to confirm no pirates are already on board
- Install a ShipLoc tracking device (satellite tracking system). Also allows crew to activate alarm to alert owners and authorities
- Have electric fence along gunwales (non lethal, 9000 volt jolt that also activates alarm, siren, and floodlights when touched)
- Turn on all ship’s lights when attackers approach to let them know they’re not sneaking up on anyone.
- Blast of a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Primarily used by warships, it’s a directed acoustic device. The resulting sound can cause eardrums to pop and bleed, that stuns the criminals.
- Hose ‘em down, with water pressure at about 80 pounds/square inch
- Steer like crazy to create heavy bow waves and stern wash
- Increase speed, head into sea and swell
- Call for help when pirates attack (on the radio – this doesn’t mean shout out on deck for help); provide information about number of boats, pirates, point of approach, etc; warn other ships in the area
- Sound the alarm
- (Although the technique has gotten a lot of press recently, throwing deck chairs at pirates is not a recommended pirate evasion technique)
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