I saw a comment post on gcaptain that sparked my interest. It said “Time to bring back the Q ships”. While the entire world now engages in discussing how to stop piracy, I took a moment to research this, as I did not recall what exactly the Q ships were. Q ships where heavily armed merchant ships used in WWI and WWII with concealed weaponry that were designed to lure enemy subs into engaging them in a surface attack. Essentially decoy ships.

Here is the latest directly from Maersk:

Maersk Alabama Situation: 0600 EDT Update

Norfolk, Va., 9 April 2009: The current situation involving the Maersk Alabama has remained much the same throughout the night. The ship’s crewmembers have been accounted for and are safely aboard the vessel. However, the ship’s captain remains in the custody of the pirates, who departed in one of the ship’s encapsulated life boats on April 8.

The U.S. flagged M/V Maersk Alabama has been hijacked by pirates approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) northeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia. The ship reportedly has 21 U.S. citizens aboard and is the first U.S. flagged vessel to be hijacked by Somali pirates.

Reports indicate that at least 5 ships were captured this weekend alone off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean. The end of the monsoon season has arrived, and pirates are learning that attacks can still be very successful, further offshore, away from naval patrols and in what was previously thought of as [...]

Maritime security – A topic that has recieved near continual attention since 9/11 and was re-enforced following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Are we addressing the right aspects? Do our current regulations effectively create a secure maritime domain? Are we more secure along our maritime borders than 4 years ago? What about 8 years ago?