Photo by Donsolo
The maritime security blog, EagleSpeak, points us to a Russian company that offers a safer alternative to putting crewman on deck to face armed pirates. The alternative? Robots armed with watercannons (not pictured). According to a press release:
The new means of defense against attacks on the high seas was created by the EFER Robotecnia Center from the territory located in the Russian border with Finland.
It was first used to put out fire in ports and vessels but facing the increase of piracy in the African Horn, Aden Gulf and the Indic Ocean its designers adapted it to watch and protect ships.
The video controlled system has 12 robots, six of them installed in each side of the ship.
We have listed water cannons and, believe it or not, robots as effective means to deter pirates before, but water cannons controlled by robots, that one is new to us. I guess in theory to have robots on deck fighting pirates is safer than seafarers out there, but that is only until they turn against the human race.
Updated: February 5, 2026 (Originally published March 3, 2009)
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