I wrote this after seeing the machine-gun positions aboard the Russian LNG carrier Marshal Vasilevskiy. The guns will not provide air defence, but they do change how a civilian ship may be approached, inspected or boarded.
Meanwhile, merchant crews are facing drones, USVs and missiles with guidance still centred on detecting, reporting and preparing.
Where should shipboard responsibility end and state protection begin?
How much protection a state of Madagascar can offer?
“”" The cases are different. The U.S. case is protected passage. India’s is energy security. Russia’s is tied to sanctions, shadow-fleet exposure and political signalling. “”“”“”
The quoted above text is susceptible to different interpretations.
In this case the Author clearly indicates and defines a ROGUE state .
The issue is protection is no long provided by the flag state for the vast majority of the world’s shipping. The Liberian Navy? If your not paying taxes don’t expect a warship.
I believe that the Ukrainians have a sort of double machine gun set up that tracks drones on radar and when close enough opens fire on them. sound like the way to arm a merchant vessel without much modification the ship
The topic of what to do if attacked by pirates was the topic of a recent onboard safety meeting. We all had a good laugh, being on the Great Lakes.
I don’t know…those Canadians are rather sneaky! lol
