Can Pirates Be Defeated by 'Panic Room' Or Blocking Controls?

 According to the article below Owners of Spanish vessels fishing in Somali waters have proposed installing hermetically sealed rooms to protect the crew in case of an attempted hijacking by pirates. These will be connected with Atalanta forces, which fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean. This is a similar tactic used by the Greek cargo ship which was boarded by pirates earlier this week. The crew of this ship locked themselves in the engine room and blocked controls. The pirates gave up after failing to gain control. Good stuff!
    . . . June

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'Panic room' creates new way to fend off pirates:
FIS - Worldnews Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 03:30

Owners of Spanish tuna vessels fishing in Somali waters have proposed installing hermetically sealed rooms to protect the crew in case of an attempted hijacking by pirates.

The pilot project is to build 'panic rooms' which will be connected with Atalanta forces, which fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean.

The initiative provides that once you are alerted about the attack, the protocol is activated, the military intervene quickly, overpower the pirates and free the kidnapped fishermen.

For now, the owners of the vessels have been granted approval by the Ministry of Defence of Spain to launch the self-protection project.

Specifically, the defense minister, Carme Chacon, called the proposal 'very positive', reports Diario Montanes.

While it is impossible to guarantee total safety, the construction of hermetically sealed rooms would abort a potential pirate attack 'which private security could not do,' said the minister.

Chacon also said that the preventive measures imposed against pirate attacks have been successful so far, and early warning systems that connect tuna vessels with the Atalanta controls have been effective.

Owners who met with Chacon thanked the "full readiness" of the government to prevent piracy.

Currently, there are 30 tuna vessels fishing in the Indian Ocean, of which, 13 fly the Spanish flag and all have private security.

Spanish fleets have invested EUR 1 million in security: half of which is paid by the boat owners and the rest is covered by the government.

Read entire article

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Another Ship Seized by Pirates Off Somalia's Coast

It's pretty frightening to think that a ship could be so easily boarded and hijacked. Evidently, it happens frequently. According to the article, Somalia's lawlessness during the past 19 years has allowed piracy to thrive off its Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden coastlines. Many ships who must trade in the region have security in place for just such a reason.
    . . . June


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Pirates seize cargo ship off Somalia's coast
Yahoo! News:

NAIROBI, Kenya – The European Union's anti-piracy force says Somali pirates have hijacked a cargo ship carrying steel bars and wires off the coast of Somalia.

The force said in a statement that the MV Lugela sent a distress call to its Greek operator Saturday when pirates attacked it about 900 nautical miles east of the Somali pirate den of Eyl.

A short while later, the ship altered its course toward Somalia.

The statement said Saturday that there had been no contact with the ship throughout the incident.
The 4,281-ton-ship, which transited through the Gulf of Aden and had 12 Ukrainians onboard, was headed for the Mauritius.

Somalia's lawlessness during the past 19 years has allowed piracy to thrive off its Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden coastlines.

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