As I'm sure you know, they are merchant vessels manned by merchant seaman. However, in the case of the
Point Class operated on behalf of the MOD under a PFI scheme the crews are Sponsored Reservists. See
more info here.
I don't see what point you're trying to make.
My point was that in operational theatres they need naval protection. We should remember terrorists have attacked maritime targets before and will do so again. Hezbollah used Iranian suppiled anti ship missiles. The LTTE Sea Tigers used various suicide craft, light aircraft and even divers and improvised mines and torpedoes - they even had built a suicide midget submarine but it was captured. Al Qaeda has used suicide boat attacks in harbour and at sea, they also used suicide bombers to attack a US boarding party in the Gulf, planned to crash explosive laden aircraft into Western naval vessels in the Gulf, and considered using a mother ship to launch multiple suicide attacks with speedboats.
Given the diverse range of possible threats it would seem like a sensible precaution to escorts ships carry vehicles and other equipment for the Afghan theatre. The terrorists only have to be lucky once - we have to be lucky every time.
As to other maritime aspects of countering terrorism, see
this Telegraph article from 2004. I must have missed it before, but it hopefully is a reminder that the war on terror (sic) is not limited to Iraq and Afghanistan.
I would also point out that RN aviation assets, not just those carried by frigates/destroyers, but also CVS, LPH and LPD based ones, and ones based aboard RFAs, have played an important part in current operations.