Security

Could Mercenaries Return as Pirate Foes?

The U.S. Navy and its allies don’t have enough ships to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia. Edward Pernotto’s solution is to use mercenary escorts, instead. He suggests getting an insurer like Lloyd’s of London to contract with a private security company to "escort vessels in these dangerous waters." Actually, the idea has been […]

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The U.S. Navy and its allies don't have enough ships to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia. Edward Pernotto's solution is to use mercenary escorts, instead. He suggests getting an insurer like Lloyd's of London to contract with a private security company to "escort vessels in these dangerous waters."

Actually, the idea has been floated before. Not only have mercenaries been battling pirates for a good eight centuries. But back in 2005, the Somali government tried to hire a U.S. firm, Top Cat Marine, to fight pirates. The price: $50 million. The problem: the company was shady, even by private security contractor standards.

Kathryn Cramer discovered that the company shared a single New York suite with NyClubScene.com, "Animal Fair" magazine, and MyHealingPrayer.com. Top Cat CEO Peter Casini had a habit of bankrupting his companies. And the firm, it turned out, had ties to Sandline International -- the private military company that has been involved in quite a few of Africa's messy little wars.

In June, there were conflicting reports that the French security outfit Scopex had won a $150 million deal to take Top Cat's place. But the deal doesn't appear to have closed, yet.

Pernotto likens the idea to "the convoys escorted in World War II" by American destroyers given to the U.K. But the better analogy, I think, are the ground convoys in Iraq that are today guarded by outfits like
Blackwater and Triple Canopy -- for all the good and bad what that represents.

As David Axe noted last week, one U.S. admiral floated the idea of putting mercenary teams on commercial vessels to defend against pirate boardings. But it "raises more legal issues than anyone could possibly count."

[Photo: U.S. Navy]

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