Re: Letters of marque

"K.H.Ranitzsch" wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au>
>
> > > All this talk of pirates aside, I have to point out that Nations
of a
> > > certain size and larger guard their commerce with a vengance.
> >
> > Unfortunately they also tend to register their ships in small third
party
> > nations (to avoid liability and taxes etc) ...
>
> True about registring the ships in small nations.
>
> > ....and thus are susceptible to pirate raids such as happens around
> Indonesia and the Philippines.
>
> I just wonder what this supposedly has to do with the pirate raids.
Those
> ships registered in Panama, Cyprus or Bermuda hardly ever see their
home
> waters.
>
> Greetings
> Karl Heinz

If the ships preyed upon by pirates were US flagged, the owners could
legitimately demand that the USN do something.	That was the whole point
behind
the reflagging of Kuwaiti tankers, after spirited iranian youths in
speedboats
started peppering them with RPG's [although that situation reversed the
normal
order of things, the US offered to escort american registered vessels]. 
I
suspect that the Royal Navy (if it still has an overseas presence) would
also
express its annoyance at the hindrance of its merchant vessels.

The nations that offer shipowners flags of convenience do not have to
tax to
support a blue water fleet, so they make no effort to protect "their"
shipping.