# Peacefullest Way To Attack & Disable A Merchant Ship? **URL:** \ **Category:** Scuttlebutt\ **Created:** [May 8, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450 "2026-05-08T23:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![powerabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@powerabout](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/powerabout)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/21 "2026-05-10T11:33:26Z")
Was in eastern med one day 30 years ago some old sanction something happening. US trying to stop a ship to be boarded and they ignored Helicopter flew over the deck and lined rockets up into bridge windows, they stopped We could see it in the distance but the Chopper pilot talking to the Captain was hilarious as the captain tried to pretend the chopper wasnt there till the chopper said the helicopter just in front of your bridge. ---
**Author:** ![neilforde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@neilforde](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/neilforde)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/23 "2026-05-10T15:23:48Z")
Remove the ruder, particularly if you can damage the stock. Depending on the age of the ship replacing the cast stock, or keg if the vessel has one, can be so expensive the vessel is a total constructive loss. ---
**Author:** ![Chopshopscotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chopshopscotty](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Chopshopscotty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/24 "2026-05-10T15:35:20Z")
I have another idea. Instead of all this damage from Thor, why not just try to hire them. Give them: Waypoints to Egypt for asylum vetting. Return to Iran the guys that don’t want to flee the “motherland”. Then fast track their green card, TWIC, union orientation and dues! More $$$ for everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/25 "2026-05-10T16:02:29Z")
> [@Chopshopscotty](#): > > ..why not just try to hire them. Give them: I had the same idea about the Ukraine-Russia War. The last I checked the Ukrainian Alliance was spending over $100k for every Russian killed. We could have just paid them off. Or opened pawn shops on the front line where Russian soldiers could sell their AK’s, tanks & fighter jets. While I know many mariners could be bought off, the ones with family in Iran or with deep religious beliefs wouldn’t do it. Pretty smart for a dictator state to have the head cleric as the head of state too. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Seadog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/67e7ee/32.png) [@Chief\_Seadog](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Chief_Seadog)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/26 "2026-05-11T13:39:46Z")
> [@Sand\_Pebble](#): > > The last I checked the Ukrainian Alliance was spending over $100k for every Russian killed. The numbers I heard were more like $1K though I’m not sure how this is calculated. [https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/wiping-one-russian-soldier-costs-125100767.html](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/wiping-one-russian-soldier-costs-125100767.html) ---
**Author:** ![tengineer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@tengineer1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tengineer1)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/27 "2026-05-11T14:01:29Z")
What a bargain. The US has spent 25 billion, if you believe Hegspath, and killed about 7600 Iranians. That’s about $3,300,000 each. ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/28 "2026-05-11T14:25:10Z")
> [@Chief\_Seadog](#): > > The numbers I heard were more like $1K though Lol, your numbers & that Ukrainian commander who says it only cost $900 is probably correct. No argument from me. But A.I just told me the US & the Ukrainian Alliance has spent $588 Billion which is a very conservative total. Then A.I & the UK media says they have killed 325,000 Russian soldiers. So $588 Billion divided by 325k soldiers comes to +$167,000.00 USD spent for each dead Russian. But $900 is probably closer. The other $166k for each soldiers is probably setting in a Cayman Island account or in gold bars in a Swiss bank somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Kingrobby](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kingrobby/32/68137_2.png) [@Kingrobby](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kingrobby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/29 "2026-05-11T14:32:28Z")
This is easy people. Get those 200 cocaine hippos from Columbia, you know the ones Pablo Escobar had at his private zoo back in the day. Transfer them to the Straits of Hormuz and let them acclimatize until they think it’s their new home territory. Now, any ship that sails through the Straits will be invading their home turf and with hippos being so territorial they will attack the ship for you. Done. ---
**Author:** ![Jughead](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/jughead/32/4257_2.png) [@Jughead](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Jughead)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:33pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/30 "2026-05-11T14:33:19Z")
> [@tengineer1](#): > > The US has spent 25 billion, if you believe Hegspath, and killed about 7600 Iranians. Time and time again we seem to have to bash it into thick heads that the object is NOT to kill Iranians. The object is to change the minds of the leadership of Iran, who for the most part, quite happily kill Iranians themselves for zero $US. The blockade is strangling the oil income of the regime and a high proportion of that income went to the IRGC. A little longer and the Iranian storage capacity will be unable to accept more and production will have to stop which can destroy the operational wells. The zealots in charge of Iran may happily suicide the nation before doing a deal, but they have the man who wrote the book who seems equally happy to wait it out. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@Bruce1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Bruce1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 10:16am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/31 "2026-05-12T10:16:10Z")
it might stop them from immediate use, especially if you wanted to commandeer it. but typically disabling it with physical damage eliminates the reuse after verses just electronic replacement ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/32 "2026-05-12T12:57:10Z")
> [@Bruce1](#): > > typically disabling it with physical damage eliminates the reuse after verses just electronic replacement I agree with this. The last 2 merchant ships the US Navy detrimentally attacked by exploding the stack were empty general cargo ships. No big deal, the world is flooded with those. But if the administration wants to get oil prices down before the midterms or lessen the possibility of an environmental catastrophe they need to use less aggressive means to disable a loaded tanker. ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/33 "2026-05-12T13:46:40Z")
> [@Sand\_Pebble](#): > > No big deal, the world is flooded with those. There are crews on those ships!! 😨 Oh, no big deal, they are not Americans. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/34 "2026-05-12T15:05:48Z")
> [@ombugge](#): > > Oh, no big deal, they are not Americans. Poor Bug, so gullible & blinded by American hate that you must think the Iranians called those 2 empty cargo ships into port to test the blockade by coincidence only. IMO, the US Government has no right to bomb Iran or to turn the cold war, hot as we did. But whoever ordered those disposable empty ships into port were gambling with those mariners lives as if they were nothing more than plastic kids toys. But I don’t expect you to blame those terrorist shotcallers to be held accountable just like you were fine with the +35,000 protesters murdered in Iran in December, January, February. As for me, I don’t support this illegal war but glad & proud the US Navy has been targeting stacks & rudders compared to Iran & their proxies who aim to kill with their long history of attacking merchant mariners & our ships. > **[36,500 deaths in context: How Iran’s toll compares with wars and crackdowns](https://www.iranintl.com/en/202601277218)** > > The killing of 36,500 people in just two days represents a scale of violence without precedent in the history of repression under the Islamic Republic – and one that stands out even when compared with some of the deadliest episodes of state violence... ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/35 "2026-05-12T20:21:45Z")
> [@Sand\_Pebble](#): > > Poor Bug, so gullible & blinded by American hate My name is Bugge, not hiding behind a pseudonym. I may be “gullible & blinded” by facts, not biased news sources. Your source doesn’t meet my criteria: [https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/iran-international-bias-and-credibility/](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/iran-international-bias-and-credibility/) Here is a more reliable source: The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency ([HRANA] as quoted by BBC 3. May, 2026: > [@](#): > > More than 6,500 protesters were killed and 53,000 arrested, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). > **[Smuggling Starlink tech into Iran to beat the internet blackout](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgzk91leweo)** > > Sahand tells the BBC World Service he sends satellite internet terminals into Iran to help show "the real picture". ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Craft\_Advisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Small\_Craft\_Advisory](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Small_Craft_Advisory)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/36 "2026-05-13T16:49:45Z")
Is there any precedent for deploying a large floating net or line that would wrap the propeller shaft and disable propulsion? Something akin to a spike trap on the road. Of course, then you have a large NUC that would need to be secured and taken under tow, anchored etc Ideally it would be preferable not to damage critical systems ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/37 "2026-05-13T17:04:22Z")
> [@Small\_Craft\_Advisory](#): > > any precedent for deploying a large floating net or line that would wrap the propeller shaft and disable propulsion Now that is a damn good idea! Such a Kevlar type net or line ideally could be deployed by underwster drone too. It’s more complicated but maybe underwater drones that could cover cooling seawater inlets? Held on the hull with magnets that could be dropped at a flip of a switch. The US Navy should be able to get drawings for all these ships at a click of a mouse. It definitely would be harder to cover seawater inlets while underway though. ---
**Author:** ![Kingrobby](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kingrobby/32/68137_2.png) [@Kingrobby](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kingrobby)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/38 "2026-05-13T17:16:13Z")
Whale Wars had a few examples of things like that. here’s one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NUoNje0to](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NUoNje0to) ---
**Author:** ![tengineer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@tengineer1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tengineer1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/39 "2026-05-13T21:06:00Z")
Fishermen have the technique and are good at. Just give give them stronger nets! ---
**Author:** ![research\_sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@research\_sailor](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/research_sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450/40 "2026-05-14T16:35:52Z")
Most mariners don’t want virgins in the afterlife… they’d prefer a much more experienced sort, and right here & now… 🫣 [Previous page](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/peacefullest-way-to-attack-disable-a-merchant-ship/75450.md?page=1)