tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post6810760220641622711..comments2024-03-29T09:08:47.702-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: If You Can Figure Out How to Invest in Somali Pirates, Go Long SiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-68584505520825972752017-05-27T16:34:36.001-04:002017-05-27T16:34:36.001-04:00I think that goes for autonomous cars and trucks a...I think that goes for autonomous cars and trucks as well. The opportunities for someone to be in the wrong place are just so much greater for pedestrians than even small boats that it seems inevitable that someone gets run over by an autonomous car or truck. Then the lawsuit games begin.<br /><br />With ships and the Colregs, IIRC, sailboats have the right of way due to their inherently lower ability to change direction at will. It becomes an issue of the big ship detecting you to know you get the right of way. Not that it's going to be particularly comforting as you fight to not get sucked into the propellers of the freighter than just ran over and splintered your catamaran...<br /><br />I've heard that large freighters, even with reverse thrust, can take over a mile to stop, so if the small boat can avoid them, it sounds like a worthwhile effort. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-63112238818411173772017-05-27T01:23:53.480-04:002017-05-27T01:23:53.480-04:00I may be missing something here, but it seems to m...I may be missing something here, but it seems to me that all the pirates would have to do is threaten to sink the ships. Under calm conditions, it wouldn't take much effort to slap some Semtex on the hull at the waterline (even while underway) which they could set off if their demands were not met.<br /><br />Speaking of Colregs, I am reminded of how easy it is to get run over by large ships when you are in a small boat. I've had to dodge a number of container ships and a couple of regular cargo vessels both at night and even during daylight in the 38' catamaran we sailed around the northern Caribbean some years back, before we returned to the land. Any time I saw a large vessel, I fired up our radar, not trusting our radar reflectors to be noticed by the "big guys", and of course ran the radar full-time if we were sailing at night (we had a diesel generator on board towe used when under sail alone, as well as the Yanmar diesel drives in each hull).<br /><br />Ships being operated remotely - or worse, autonomously - could be a scary possibility for small private boats plying the seven seas.Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-12339945999869046642017-05-26T09:38:22.598-04:002017-05-26T09:38:22.598-04:00The easiest solution to piracy could be to have a ...The easiest solution to piracy could be to have a global network of contractors to deal with boarding, and a simp,e heartbeat communication. Anything goes wrong, you just stop TX to the ship and it stops dead. Remember, most of the time the pirates either want it to stop, or re-direct it to where they can protect it from defense. An autonomous ship can't be blackmailed to redirect...so the worst the pirates can do is make it stop, which is what the owners may want anyway. Then summon navy or contractors to deal with problem. If the pirates can't make it stop, you could just keep sailing (or redirect further away from their base to make dealing with them easier) and deal with the pirates they stay in a location of YOUR choosing. I think it's a good idea. Hell, with no crew, you could do all kinds of active protection to keep the pirates from getting into the spaces where they could redirect or stop the ship...electrified hatches anyone?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04460916546842035435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-41181533639583181842017-05-25T21:44:34.666-04:002017-05-25T21:44:34.666-04:00SiGB,
Salvage rights are not quite that simple, bu...SiGB,<br />Salvage rights are not quite that simple, but close to it - My understanding is that the international standard contract when towing somebody else or rescuing their ship is 10% of the value of the ship and cargo. <br />One concern with an unmanned ship, as you said, is how do you keep somebody else from taking over the ship, for any one of a variety of reasons.<br />Mark,<br />Big ships with big cargoes are REALLY expensive, and except in certain cases not explosive enough to do that on their own. For example, some Oil Tankers can cost $100 million to build and carry a cargo of $100 million or more. The really big ones already get crew and supplies helicoptered out since there are so few ports they can fit into; they go between at sea loading and unloading points until they HAVE to go into port for repairs.<br /><br />Jonathan Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10476185257203343474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-29858763447153585232017-05-25T17:05:16.558-04:002017-05-25T17:05:16.558-04:00Good point, although I wonder if they couldn't...Good point, although I wonder if they couldn't disable the ship, leave it adrift and helicopter a crew on to fix things. <br /><br />Does the law of the high seas allow anyone to claim it? "First one on board owns it!" <br /><br /><br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-63713724249631146132017-05-25T16:53:13.426-04:002017-05-25T16:53:13.426-04:00The reason for putting crew on ship is to fix EVER...The reason for putting crew on ship is to fix EVERYTHING that can go wrong with the ship itself. BigFirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08691686124373392635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-50109123994683944022017-05-25T12:14:33.616-04:002017-05-25T12:14:33.616-04:00And if you time it right, there's a brand new ...And if you time it right, there's a brand new deep water port!Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-11293273294229971762017-05-25T09:33:53.517-04:002017-05-25T09:33:53.517-04:00My wife was saying to load the ship with armed dro...My wife was saying to load the ship with armed drones. Let it self-defend. <br /><br />I hadn't even thought of blowing the ship, though. If it goes off course or remote controllers can tell it has been hijacked, just go boom.<br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-72781555347197264422017-05-25T08:45:17.880-04:002017-05-25T08:45:17.880-04:00Of course, one could always rig the ship to explod...Of course, one could always rig the ship to explode spectacularly at an appropriate time if it WAS hijacked. Big >>>BOOM<<< in the port of Mogadishu would take care of a whole shipload of problems at once...Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-55967402783169846022017-05-25T00:14:32.946-04:002017-05-25T00:14:32.946-04:00The shipping companies will do the math. The cost ...The shipping companies will do the math. The cost of ships lost to various reasons including piracy is compared to money saved by removing crews. Once the technology is mature costs to insure a ship will likely decrease as much of the insurers risk is to pay claims to the families of lost crew. If it costs less to remove crews even if an occasional ship is hijacked then that is what will happen. And there won't be any warm bodies for pirates to hold for ransom. It could be cheaper to let the ship and cargo sit than pay the pirates anything. And if there are no crews for pirates to hide behind then various militaries can bomb the shiite out of pirates and not risk boots on the ground or harming hostages. I have no doubt the actuarial experts will have these costs factored in short order.Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-60177580600205565052017-05-24T22:40:02.630-04:002017-05-24T22:40:02.630-04:00There is a web significant national and internatio...There is a web significant national and international agreements that determine requirements for commercial shipping in many areas; one of those areas is manning. Before any international use of unmanned ships can be contemplated, there are a number of international agreements that would have to be revised, and even then it could only happen between participating countries. <br />I could see a time when ships crossed the oceans unmanned and a crew was helicoptered out to them in international waters, but that time is far off. In the meantime, I suspect there will be continued automation available that will reduce manning requirements in situations that allow it. <br />Jonathan Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10476185257203343474noreply@blogger.com