It was just a matter of time before the Somali pirates decided to up and move to new waters. Needless to say this new game of cat and mouse has upped the game to a new level.
Clearly it is difficult to patrol so much open water, and even with several countries deploying naval ships, it is still the needle in the haystack.
Eventually the most obvious deterrent that has been avoided will be the only answer, and that is to arm the targeted ships with weapons that will turn the pirates away.
For whatever reason this is being avoided, it clearly is the best answer. Many women learn self defense being Karate or whatever as the police can not be everywhere. So the logic behind this is the same. After a few dozen encounters with ships that fight back, the Somali pirates will start to think again that if they head out they may soon become shark food.
Connecting the Dots fails to see the logic in not arming the ships. Clearly the governments have admitted several time that there is a lot of water to cover.
The most recent event that involved an American crew showed that the pirates although armed are not trained and are flying by the seat of their pants. It means if the pirates see incoming fire and they are more or less sitting ducks in their small boat, that good old survival instinct will kick in as they suddenly turn the rudder.
