Another point often glossed over or missed, is that many of the hijacked crew do not put up any resistance. Why could this be?
It is because crews are NOT armed, and deliberately so, by ship owners...and the crews are instructed to offer no resistance to pirates, for fear of antagonising them, and suffering crew fatalities as a result.
The problem of arming merchant ships crews raises a lot of problems, including the racheting-up of pirates weaponry if they know a crew is armed. I consider a better idea is to have heavily armed escorts shadowing vessels, and pouncing on pirates the instant they show signs of piracy-like movements.
Low Flier - If the Somali Sharia courts were effective, piracy would be lessening, and the Somalis would be stringing them up. I'd suggest the Somali courts are soft on pirates, and are more concerned with local land and personal disputes, in line with Sharia Law. Remember, every country that operates under Sharia Law has a major twist towards savage retribution towards what we in the West would consider minor personal indiscretions... yet is prepared to let major crimes go unpunished, particularly if it's done in the name of Allah, and against the hated Westerners. I notice that they have no problem with accepting donated food, in sacks with an American flag on them, though.....
