Piracy issue unclear to non-mariner... naive question...

[lcx5]

Hi,

There are 3 piracy headlines on the gcaptain frontpage today. As a non-mariner, I do not understand, but
would like to...

When I read that a handful of pirates with knives boarded a large commercial vessel, I wonder the following:
- With this problem so prevalent, are vessels not armed? Is that not legal?
- How many crew are on a tanker? Not enough to mount a defense?
- I would have assumed that with modern electronics, pirate vessels would be 'seen' long before
they are alongside, giving the crew time to prepare, react, arm themselves, etc...but the articles sometimes
read as if the crew realized they were being boarded when the saw the pirates boarding...

Ok, I know I am missing something.

Thanks,
lcx5

[cappy208]

Rather than rehash and repeat, look under the 'maritime topics' section then look up the 'maritime security' sub heading. I would bet you could read all the posts that are there, and ask questions on that forum.