I have a university professor who is an expert on maritime piracy. I asked him the other day why these crews don't just carry guns or have armed guards. he said it's because after they get a few days out to sea the armed guards (or the crew members with the guns) would realize they've got all the guns, and they'd start to realize all the power they had, and get some bad ideas. best idea, he said, is to keep all the guns off the boat. Hundreds of thousands of cargo ships sail every year without incident, so why pay for guards to just hang out on the boat 99 percent of the time?
Interestingly enough, he said the best defense against pirate attacks is a deck that's all lit up with flood lights. apparently pirates like attacking dark ships in the middle of the night. if you have your ship lit up like a christmas tree, they'll find another ship that's an easier target.
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