Shipping Executive: No guns for our ship captains, we don’t want our sailors in an arms race.
Shipping executive John Clancey opposed crews getting into an arms race with pirates on the high seas. Clancey is chairman of Maersk Inc., parent company of Maersk Line Ltd, whose ship—Phillips’ Maersk Alabama—was attacked on April 8.
Now, let me get this straight…
His crew’s ship was stormed, his crew was held hostage, with no means of defense, he’s worried about instigating an arms race with Somalian cutthroats?
It’s clear. Tanker crews want the means to protect themselves from piracy. Argue “peace through superior firepower” on a global level all you want, but giving small groups of average people the means to defend themselves from outside aggressors has always proven highly effective in situations where there may not always be some form of instant-authorized government protection (as evidenced here).
If Mr. Clancey is going to make statements that potentially jeopardize the wellbeing of those he employs, it would only be appropriate for him to take one of his own unarmed vessels through Somalian waters, absent any personal protection detail, right?
...Not like there’s ever been a double standard with the American political elite, and guns or something.
