SocraticGadfly: Somali piracy bad enough for Blackwater

November 25, 2008

Somali piracy bad enough for Blackwater

Boy if this isn’t close the “the devil you know,” for shipping companies to be looking at hiring Blackwater as marine private security, I don’t know what is.

More proof piracy is that bad? Some Europeans are shiping from south and southwest Asia by way of Cape Horn. in an attempt to avoid the area entirely.

Meanwhile, Russia wants to invade Somalia, even knowing full well that our own attempt at “limited war” there didn’t work too well.

And, especially in the case of oil supertankers, or Very Large Crude Carriers, as they’re more technically known, hijacking them is almost ridiculously easy.

They have huge blind spots and small crews, and if the captain things about resisting, a grenade launcher reminds him that he’s sitting on 300,000 tons of oil.

Read the full story for more on the challenges there.

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