It goes without saying that the Marines are an excellent fighting force. Be it the United States Marines or the British Royal Marines, tens of thousands of dollars have gone into training so that these fighting units can be the most formidable in combat.
But then once the Marine is an ex-Marine, there is a question as to what to do with those skill sets. Can’t really use the the more hardcore elements in the office setting, lest one’s fellow employees look askance at your crawling on your elbows around their desks, blowing up the Coke Machine.
Perhaps there is an answer. At least for some who would rather put their training to use instead of returning to a dull civilian life. Fight pirates. That’s right. Just when you think pirates and fighting pirates is an anachronism from another century, the opportunity has returned. According to an article in Bloomberg, Protection Vessels International, Ltd. will be hiring and additional 250 former Royal Marines to combat pirates and to protect oil tankers and other ships off the coast of East Africa.
According to the article, “A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, which is the largest owner of vessels that carry manufactured goods, has also announced it will start using armed security on some of its oil and gas tankers. PVI’s guards are paid by the day, and the average cost is $50,000 per voyage.” So it sounds like there is good money in fighting piracy. A caution, though. The British government may soon pass legislation discouraging companies from hiring armed private security, so there is the shot the job can be short lived. Oh well.
The article reported, “Somali pirates attacked 199 ships and hijacked 12 percent of them, down from 28 percent in 2010, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Pirate attacks globally rose to 352. For its part, PVI said its guards have been attacked 30 times in three-and-a-half years, repelling all attacks without incurring any deaths or injuries. They have found that warning shots are usually sufficient to drive the pirates away.”
So I guess the remaining question is…who gets to keep the parrots and the peg legs?
