VIRGINIA BEACH
Blackbeard, meet Blackwater. Worldwide.
The Moyock, N.C., company has a ship in Hampton Roads ready to begin patrolling the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels against pirates.
The company has spoken to about 10 shipping firms but as yet has no takers, said Bill Mathews, Blackwater Worldwide executive vice president.
"There's definitely a need and a desire," Mathews said during a tour of the 183-foot vessel, named McArthur, on Friday. It's moored at a commercial pier at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.
Somali pirates in late September seized a Ukrainian ship loaded with military vehicles in the Gulf of Aden and still hold the ship while demanding a multimillion-dollar ransom. The standoff is being monitored by the U.S. Navy.
In the first half of this year, pirates launched two dozen attacks off the Somali coast, including 19 in the Gulf of Aden, Said the International Maritime Bureau. At least eight vessels reported attacks by grenade launchers and automatic weapons, the organization said.
The 830-ton McArthur was built about 40 years ago for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a research vessel. The ship spent much of its government career in the Arctic and other far-flung seas, said Blackwater's Tom Ridenour, the ship's captain.
The ship is named for William Pope McArthur, a 19th-century naval officer and Coast Survey hydrographer.
Blackwater bought the vessel about two years ago and repaired and upgraded the craft in a Seattle shipyard. Mathews declined to reveal the purchase price but said the overhauled ship has a value of at least $15 million.
It went into commercial use last September, said spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell.
The company has contracts with the Coast Guard and Navy, among others, to train service members on maritime security operations, Mathews said. A typical training mission could have the McArthur acting as a target vessel that U.S. forces need to board in open waters.
The ship has several upgrades, including a helicopter pad and storage shed capable of keeping two small MD-530 aircraft. It can carry 44 passengers including crew.
For anti-piracy operations, the 14-sailor crew would be supplemented with Blackwater security guards, four rigid-hull inflatable boats and helicopters, Mathews said. Security teams could follow a merchant vessel by air and land.
Mathews said the crew and guards are qualified to provide maritime security, noting that the security teams would consist of former Navy SEALs. The force is highly trained in handling vehicle boardings and anti-terrorism missions.
The ship could be overseas within 40 days, pending approval from the State Department and roughly a month long transit across the Atlantic.
The use of private companies to protect merchant ships has a long history, said Claude Berube, a former congressional staffer and professor who has written on the topic. The East India Co. employed private convoys about a century ago along the coast of Africa, he said.
Even today, the area remains at risk.
As piracy threats have grown near the Horn of Africa, insurance premiums on ships have risen ten-fold, Berube said. The U.S. Navy and its allies cannot cover all the seas, and a private force could help fill the security gap, he said.
"It would be feasible," he said. "I think we have to be open to all options."
Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2322, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com
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Nothing new
I think VaChef might have missed that history lesson about the Marine Jihad declaring war on the US in 1785. In fact the ink hadn't dried on our treaty with Britain granting us our independence when the Islamic Barbary Pirates acknowledged our new nation by hijacking our ships and merchants on the high seas demanding ransom and tribute. By 1800, 20% of our government's revenues was being spent on protection money foreign aid to the pirates who had made the coasts of Italy and Spain uninhabitable because of their constant raids where they kidnapped more than a million Europeans to be slaves they were selling in the middle east. By 1803, President Jefferson understood that there would never be enough money to satisfy the pirates so without Congressional approval he sent the Marines to Tripoli to make the seas safe for US ships and all civilized society. The Barbary states weren't poor and in p
Blackwater
VaChef's comments illustrate why you don't find a lot of chefs in the Teams. "People like him" just don't get it. Piracy is illegal, they often kill ship's crewmembers, and they get their hands on all sorts of goods no one wants them to have. Getting rid of pirates is a good thing. "Mistakes" are unlikely as ships on the high-seas don't usually receive visitors and the pirates make themselves known well in advance of being in a position to do any harm. In order to avoid problems with international law, it would seem that having security teams on the ships would make more sense. Ships have a right of self-defense and the Teams could board/off-board when entering/leaving areas of pirate activity. Another option would be to convoy through those areas with escorts. Pirates don't have long range vessels, need to operate fairly close to home, and have their best luck at choke points.
Stopped by legalities
The U.S. Navy and those of other nations are limited by legalities. Pirates from the South China Sea and the waters off Indonesia to the Horn of Africa (Somalia) are using the sovereign rights of territorial waters to hide their illegal activities. They can and do pop in and out as they please to attack ships - and our forces can't pursue them.
This law of the sea and territorial sovereignty is WRONG. If a government will not do anything about the problem of piracy in their waters, other governments should be able to. Organizations such as Blackwater could skirt this law just as easily as the pirates do - and go after them. THAT is why Blackwater is needed in this case.
Perfect
No these guys have a perfect record of protecting people and doing a job flawlessly. If they can protect ships half as well as they protect State Dept. officials they would be a fantastic solution. The situation in the waters off the coast of Somalia has become ridiculous with the pirates becoming more and more successful at capturing ships.
Use the money for our military; they will do the job right.
I don’t know about this. These guys have a history of “shoot first ask questions later”. If they make a “mistake” or error in judgment, they could cause an international crisis for the United States. The last thing we need is that. This is something our military should be doing. These people make money off conflict; they have no incentive for peace. Use the money for our military; they will do the job right.
D-Doc
Stop it.
We both know many in Congress have a working knowledge in the Constitution.
If more did, we woudln't have many of the problems we now are facing as a country.
Blackwater.
The Right People with the Right Stuff that are Right for the Job!
Blackwater; the non PC cure!
Where Do I Sign Up?
Great job for a former sailor.......
That is great news!
Leave it to Blackwater to venture out into protecting the good people from the bad guys, once again. Maybe this time they will be allowed to accomplish their good works.
Now you guys at Blackwater, can't you get involved on the USA's border problem?
Thank you for all you do.
Government sanctioned pirates
Seems to me that the government of Somalia should be held accountable for the actions of vessels and personell in the waters that it governs. You can bet that if our country had a bunch of pirates working off our coast the whole world would be after our necks. Cut off any and all monitary aide to this country if nothing else. How else can we afford to pay for irresponsible mortgage owners that are going to get a free ride.
Use the money for our military; they will do the job right.
I don’t know about this. These guys have a history of “shoot first ask questions later”. If they make a “mistake” or error in judgment, they could cause an international crisis for the United States. The last thing we need is that. This is something our military should be doing. These people make money off conflict; they have no incentive for peace. Use the money for our military; they will do the job right.
everyone has a tool box
The leadership courses I've taken over the past years always emphasized the importance of using all of the available tools in your tool box whenever there was a task to be completed. Where one tool may not work, there is always another tool better suited to the job. Unfortunately, every tool box also contains some pristine tools that are never used, and are eventually forgotten or discarded. In some cases, it's because the owner is afraid to sully their hands.
Blackwater, with its various divisions and abilities, provides an excellent set of multi-purpose tools that have been made available to the US and friendly governments. Some of the tools have been well used, but others languish. This maritime ability of Blackwater seems to be the right tool at the appropriate time, so why won't the Government use it?
What a waste.
Again with the killing ....
Why is it America's solution to everything is kill those in our way? I'm perplexed that would be a Doctor's solution. Maybe we need to work on why there are pirates: poverty, starvation, etc .. how many mouths could have been fed with the money that Blackwater spent on their new toy? Blackwater is nothing but boys that like to play GIJoe and never grew up like most us. Thanks for reminding me why I'm voting for Obama.
I am always surprised
by the criticism of Blackwater. It seems to me that it is a group made up of ex-elite military men trained by our government to do what they do. Are there bad apples amongst them, I am sure there are. Do they sometimes do the wrong thing? probably. But it seems they are also pretty good at what they do overall and I think this might be a good idea. Fight terrorism with strength, where ever it comes from.
Letter of Marque and Reprisal
As authorized by the Constitution, Congress should grant Blackwater a Letter of Marque and Reprisal against the Somali pirates and pay an appropriate bounty for their destruction.
The war on terror could certainly benefit from the efficiencies of the private sector.
Aarrrrr.....
A good job for Blackwater
About time SOMEONE actually did SOMETHING about the piracy problem. It seems a week doesn't go by without another report of another ship being seized by Somalia based pirates. Maybe Blackwater could stage commando-type raids to recover some of the captured ships too. No government seems to have enough guts to do it.