Irish involvement against piracy

whatsupebola

Do you think there should or will ever be in the near future an irish deployment possibly under EUNAVFOR in the Indian ocean to battle the piracy in the region? Or any sort of deployment against piracy , Sorry if i dont know much but would there be a possibility of that or do we need all the vessels patrolling irish waters

cruasder777

whatsupebola wrote: »

Do you think there should or will ever be in the near future an irish deployment possibly under EUNAVFOR in the Indian ocean to battle the piracy in the region? Or any sort of deployment against piracy , Sorry if i dont know much but would there be a possibility of that or do we need all the vessels patrolling irish waters

Not so much piracy these days, commercial shipping companies now employ contractors for ship security and defence.

http://www.salvusmaritimesecurity.com/


http://www.atlasinc.co.uk/

EUNAVFORs main role now seems to be protecting ships of the world food programme. There was an article a few years ago saying the Rangers were going to be deployed.

Manach

Slightly OT, but being a Patrick O'Brian fan perhaps it is time to re-allow the Letter's de Marque. My understanding, based on a Military law book, this was outlawed late in the 19th Century given the then apparent ending of High seas piracy and the reach of British Sea power. However as the context has now changed perhaps an old notion could be revisited.

Silvera

Had we more aircraft or vessels, we could deploy a CASA CN-235 for air surveillance, or a Naval Service ship for patrols. Someday perhaps!

Tabnabs

For anyone with an interest in the subject of piracy in the Indian Ocean, you should watch the excellent documentary 'Stolen Seas' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981690/

The conclusions they come up with a pretty depressing as it essentially shows how merchant seamen are the absolute lowest rung on the ladder and naval services are wasting their time and taxpayers money on deployment to the area.

Please remember that piracy is an issue throughout the third world and ships crews live with this reality day in, day out.

sparky42

Silvera wrote: »

Had we more aircraft or vessels, we could deploy a CASA CN-235 for air surveillance, or a Naval Service ship for patrols. Someday perhaps!

Could you imagine the wailing from the PANA types, "imperialism", "Warmongering" etc etc...

Tabnabs

From developing trends, they'd be on the wrong coast too.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21635049-waters-around-somalia-are-calmer-piracy-west-africa-rising

Interesting also to read that:

Against that, however, officers complain that their crews are missing training for what they see as their main mission of high-intensity warfare. In addition, ships operating around Somalia wear out more quickly than those in other waters—dust and sand in the air damage their engines and the high temperatures harm electronics designed to operate in cooler Atlantic or Mediterranean waters.

Hence the NATO component of the anti-piracy force, which usually comprises four or five ships, is down to two—and securing these was a stretch. The EU force, which was meant to have disbanded this year, will now keep going until 2016. It is currently commanded from the decks of an Italian destroyer, the Andrea Doria.