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Mariners Develop High Tech Pirate Repellents, ignore the low tech ones

terraformer

terraformer

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http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/23/1638229&from=rss
More links at above link.
In order to keep mariners unarmed and deter them from self help, they are pulling all the rube goldberg contraptions they can out of the closet. The best is the last one. The high seas version of "dial 911". Let us know how that works out for you...

"NPR reports that owners of ships that ply the dangerous waters near Somalia are looking at options to repel pirates including slippery foam, lasers, electric fences, water cannons and high-intensity sound — almost anything except guns. One defense is the Force 80 squirt gun with a 3-inch nozzle that can send 1,400 gallons a minute 100 yards in any direction. 'It is a tremendous force of water that will knock over anything in its path and will also flood a pirate's ship very quickly,' says Roger Barrett James of the the Swedish company Unifire. Next is the Mobility Denial System, a slippery nontoxic foam that can be sprayed on just about any surface making it impossible to walk or climb even with the aid of a harness. The idea would be to spray the pirate's vessel as it approached, or to coat ropes, ladders, steps and the hull of the ship that's under attack. The Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, a high-powered directional loudspeaker allows a ship to hail an approaching vessel more than a mile away. 'Knowing that they've lost the element of surprise is half the battle,' says Robert Putnam of American Technology Corp. The LRAD has another feature — a piercing "deterrent tone" that sounds a bit like a smoke detector alarm with enough intensity to cause extreme pain and even permanent hearing loss for anyone directly in the beam that comes from the device. But Capt. John Konrad, who blogs for the Web site Gcaptain.com, says no anti-pirate device is perfect. 'The best case scenario is that you find these vessels early enough that you can get a Navy ship detached to your location and let them handle the situation.'"
Click to expand...
 
But Capt. John Konrad, who blogs for the Web site Gcaptain.com, says no anti-pirate device is perfect.
Click to expand...

Of course no device is perfect. That's why you need several to cover each others shortcomings. 5.56, 7.62, .50cal, etc.....you just need to mix and match to find the most effective combination for all situations.
 
What a great idea.

Rape Foam

"a slippery nontoxic foam that can be sprayed on just about any surface making it impossible to walk or climb even with the aid of a harness"

That'll be great for boats or women... until you try and walk on your own F'in boat and end up swimming or you take a digger down the steps trying to touch your own fergina.


You might as well create a robbery prevention device that gives you down syndrome when an attempted robbery occurs.
 
Last edited:
[thinking]

i'd rather they picked themselves up a coulpe of M4s

but hey, what do i know... because we all know that pirate fear a super soaker more then a 5.56
 
Yeah, like some poor bastard is going to be out on deck with a hose shooting green slippery foam at a pirate boat while they're firing AKs and RPGs in his general direction. Morons.

-Mike
 
So, what exactly is the deterent to mariners from bringing/smuggling onboard your own weapons? Something large enough to reach out and touch someone, but not so big that it will raise a lot of suspicion. If it's the fear of losing their license, I guess it would come down to what's more important. Life for license?
 
Rockrivr1 said:
So, what exactly is the deterent to mariners from bringing/smuggling onboard your own weapons? Something large enough to reach out and touch someone, but not so big that it will raise a lot of suspicion. If it's the fear of losing their license, I guess it would come down to what's more important. Life for license?
Click to expand...

Losing their job by violating some stupid corporate policy, more than likely. Possible arrest or detainment if they ever get inspected by some authority while in a foreign port and guns are found; eg,
by a gun pussy nation, etc.

There's probably more but those are probably the two main reasons it doesn't
happen.

-Mike
 
Rockrivr1 said:
So, what exactly is the deterent to mariners from bringing/smuggling onboard your own weapons?
Click to expand...

Many countries/ports don't allow them to be armed. Remember too these folks aren't going into the good ole US of A or other more "reasonable" states. Some of the ports these folks go into local law enforcement will plant drugs on you and make you eat roaches for dinner because its more beneficial for them... So best not to give them an excuse to do so.

Likewise not all of the crew on these boats are the greatest folks. Sure there are plenty of highly trained folks on the up-and-up; but do we want some "crew" coming into port in the US with a bunch of big guns on the decks? Often times crewmembers can be hardcore criminals themselves.

I'm sure one of the maritime folks here can chip in...the seas are pretty "free".
 
z0mbi said:
None of these 'deterrents' prevent the pirates from sitting 100yds off the side of the boat and spraying it with bullets/rockets.
Click to expand...

LRAD does. I've been installing them on oil rigs on the other side of Africa for the past 18 months. The deterrent tone is effective for over 500 meters. Getting hit with it makes you feel like someone is taking an electric egg beater to your sinuses. Ask me how I know this. [smile]
 
Rockrivr1 said:
So, what exactly is the deterent to mariners from bringing/smuggling onboard your own weapons?
Click to expand...
Being imprisoned in some third-world sh*thole.

Something large enough to reach out and touch someone, but not so big that it will raise a lot of suspicion.
Click to expand...
Against three boats loaded with pirates armed with AKs and RPGs, I wouldn't want to be a single guy armed with a bolt-action rifle (or even a semi-auto).
 
Permenent hearing loss? Sinking your boat miles from the coast to drown, starve or be eaten by sharks? Cruel and unusual punishment much? I'de prefer a bullet [thinking]
 

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