No Protection From Pirates Who Know the Seas

Members of a U.S. Navy rescue and assistance team provide humanitarian and medical assistance to the crew of the Taiwanese-flagged fishing trawler Ching Fong Hwa. The vessel had been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia in early May 2007 and was released Nov. 5, 2007 with U.S. Navy assistance. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED).

Secret Sea Lane for Piracy Protection -- War Is Boring

In the wake of last week’s Somali pirate raid that nabbed a Ukrainian ship laden with smuggled weapons, an international naval flotilla is assembling to protect commercial shipping. But the roughly dozen warships slated to patrol the Horn of Africa in coming months are spread thin. “We’re not always there” when pirates attack, a Navy source tells me.

To shrink the tens of thousands of square miles of ocean where pirate attacks might occur, the Navy has established a secret “security lane” connecting the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean. The precise location of the so-called “Maritime Security Area,” apparently some 200 miles off the Somali coast, is a closely held secret. The Navy sends its coordinates to commercial vessels via VHF radio, asking them to steer into the lane where warships can more closely guard them.

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My Comment: Blockade the Somali Ports from all shipping, and attack their facilities on land. This will solve this piracy problem very quickly.