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Talk about the untimate GFZ

PT111

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
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2,243
Location
, South Carolina, USA
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Out in the middle ofan ocean infested with pirates and all you've got is a water hose!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30103371/



Merchant crews aren't supposed to fight pirates, short of using high-pressure hoses to try to stop them from climbing aboard, Reinhart said.

"They (the crews) don't have any weapons, so it would be inappropriate for them to try to be heroes. We'd like them to come home safely," he told a news conference.



Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack “involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory.” She did not give an exact timeframe.

Andrea Phillips, the captain's wife, said her husband has sailed in those waters “for quite some time” and a hijacking was perhaps “inevitable.”
 

KBCraig

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Aug 7, 2007
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Granite State of Mind
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There have been numerous reports from this incident, citing various merchant mariners and government officials all saying that the merchant marine are "not allowed to be armed".

Says who? And by what authority?

Personal defensive weapons and anti-boarding weapons should be perfectly legal, and don't make it an "armed ship". The only issue is docking where guns are banned, but I believe traditional maritime law recognizes the right of the captain to securely store weapons when in port.
 

hellfogg

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Jan 24, 2009
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Richmond, VA, ,
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On the news they were saying that it wasn't our rules, it was the countries they were visiting. Some countries have laws against certain ships being armed in their waters. But, I still agree that it's stupid to disarm them. Talk about a floating criminal-safe zone.

Correction: Now, the news is reporting that Somalia has no control over this ship in its ports. So, I really don't know. It's probably just for insurance reasons.
 

KBCraig

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Granite State of Mind
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Somalia doesn't have a government, so it's obvious that they're not issuing any edicts.

Cruise ships visit anti-gun locations all over the world, but shooting skeet off the fantail remains a popular shipboard activity.
 
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