Pentagon planners are examining what the U.S. military can do at sea and on land in response to a dangerous spike in international piracy off the Somali coast. A look at some of the options:
Q: The Navy sent a warship to help the American hostage last week, and then sent two more as the situation grew more tense. Will the Navy keep sending more ships?
A: Pentagon leaders are considering whether to add Navy ships to the patrol force in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Horn of Africa. There are additional ships stationed relatively nearby, in Bahrain. The problem is that no matter how many more ships the Navy sends, there will never be enough to provide blanket protection for U.S. commercial ships, let alone the rest of the more than 30,000 ships that use that busy sea shipping lane. "We are dealing with 400 square miles of ocean, and we hardly have enough ships in the whole Navy to be able to patrol that size area," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week.
Q: Could the Navy run more limited escorts?
A: Yes. Navy ships could escort selected U.S.-flagged or other ships, based on ownership, crew composition, the value or destination of the cargo or the likelihood that the ship would be an attractive target for pirates. The Navy could also escort several ships at once, in convoys. These options could be done in concert with other countries already patrolling the Gulf of Aden area. Private security contractors could also provide armed ships as escorts. But shipping companies often dislike the idea of escorts since time is money in the sea cargo business and escorts would force ships to follow a set schedule that might not be cost-efficient.
Q: If the Navy can't protect every ship, what else could it do?
A: Sending armed military personnel as guards aboard some ships is one option. Another is limited blockades of Somali shore towns where pirates operate. Blockades could be an effective way to cut into the pirates' lucrative and well-established network on shore without sending Marines or other U.S. military personnel into Somalia. Blockades are also risky, however, because pirates might be tempted to shoot at or provoke Navy warships, drawing sailors into a firefight for relatively little gain. It may be hard for U.S. sailors to tell apart pirate boats from legitimate fishing or other craft. Also, moored or slow-moving U.S. warships could become targets for more serious assaults, such as the 2000 terror attack that killed 17 U.S. sailors and almost sank the USS Cole as it waited in port in Yemen.
Q: The Navy sent a warship to help the American hostage last week, and then sent two more as the situation grew more tense. Will the Navy keep sending more ships?
A: Pentagon leaders are considering whether to add Navy ships to the patrol force in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Horn of Africa. There are additional ships stationed relatively nearby, in Bahrain. The problem is that no matter how many more ships the Navy sends, there will never be enough to provide blanket protection for U.S. commercial ships, let alone the rest of the more than 30,000 ships that use that busy sea shipping lane. "We are dealing with 400 square miles of ocean, and we hardly have enough ships in the whole Navy to be able to patrol that size area," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week.
Q: Could the Navy run more limited escorts?
A: Yes. Navy ships could escort selected U.S.-flagged or other ships, based on ownership, crew composition, the value or destination of the cargo or the likelihood that the ship would be an attractive target for pirates. The Navy could also escort several ships at once, in convoys. These options could be done in concert with other countries already patrolling the Gulf of Aden area. Private security contractors could also provide armed ships as escorts. But shipping companies often dislike the idea of escorts since time is money in the sea cargo business and escorts would force ships to follow a set schedule that might not be cost-efficient.
Q: If the Navy can't protect every ship, what else could it do?
A: Sending armed military personnel as guards aboard some ships is one option. Another is limited blockades of Somali shore towns where pirates operate. Blockades could be an effective way to cut into the pirates' lucrative and well-established network on shore without sending Marines or other U.S. military personnel into Somalia. Blockades are also risky, however, because pirates might be tempted to shoot at or provoke Navy warships, drawing sailors into a firefight for relatively little gain. It may be hard for U.S. sailors to tell apart pirate boats from legitimate fishing or other craft. Also, moored or slow-moving U.S. warships could become targets for more serious assaults, such as the 2000 terror attack that killed 17 U.S. sailors and almost sank the USS Cole as it waited in port in Yemen.
Somali chaos spills from land to sea
Last year Somali pirates were responsible for more than 100 attacks on shipping and although attempts are being made to tackle the problem, finding a solution is not straightforward reports Karen Allen in Kenya..more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8004128.stm
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