Merchant ships should be armed

Re “U.S. ship captain held by Somali pirates,” April 9

All merchant ships should be armed. Had the crew of the Maersk Alabama carried weapons, this unfortunate situation off the coast of Africa would never have occurred.

Merchant ships, if armed, would have a distinct advantage over the relatively small pirate boats; the advantage lies in their height and size. It’s a well-known tenet of military strategy that in a confrontation, those who occupy higher ground have the advantage. This also holds true on the high seas, particularly when a small, pitching-and-rolling skiff is pitted against the huge, stable platform of the merchant ship.

These easily preventable and completely absurd confrontations at sea should be nipped in the bud. They represent an excellent illustration of an age-old problem: The criminals are heavily armed, and the good guys are completely defenseless

Albert G. Erd

Redondo Beach