Pirates hijack ship with 21 Americans aboard off Somalia

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

My question is - Which is more cost effective and ultimately safer: Hiring a highly qualified, well armed detachment for each of your ships sailing in the troubled area or paying ransom, paying for lost time, exposing the company to the loss of valuable personnel & property and putting lives at risk.

It would seem to me the former is ultimately cheaper even just as a deterrence force - I'd rather pay my mercenaries than pirates even if the risk of attack is slim. It always seemed pretty straightforward to me, maybe I am missing something.

i think and heard the decision of whether to arm the crew, hire your own security detail or just pay the ransom is the decision of the insurance companies of the shipping companies. the shipping co saves money on insurance by not arming their own crew b/c, i imagine, a forseeable gunfight between trained militia pirates vs. a non-trained shipping crew could end up with alot of wrongful death suits.

looks like shipping co and their insurance carriers might be deciding that hired security detail is the way to go compared to their thought process a few years ago.