On Fox News the State Dept. says the companies should do more to protect their own vessels: more lookouts, loud sirens, maybe armed guards.  Are cargo ships allowed to carry guns or does international maritime law prohibit it?

No law that I know of except customs issues.  I don't know what would happen if a ship coming to the US had a bunch of firearms that were not cargo.  THe Coast Guard would probably shit on themselves.

and the crew is usaully low dollar labor.

with zero connection to the cargo..   as in if someone with a gun wants it..  they will say .. here ya go .

Offensive weaponry (including small arms) makes a vessel a military combatant and subject to laws governing such vessels.

Nations may deny port access to combatants and there may be restrictions placed on the use of combatant vessels for the purposes of trade.

It is 100% political.



There is a fine line between what is an offensive weapon and what is not.  Many captains keep a handgun in the payroll safe and this is often considered a defensive weapon (if anyone ever even knows about it).  Vessels contracting to the US military and carrying their cargo often carry a number of small arms in the event that they are required to enter an internationally (that is, UN) declared warzone.

The horn of Africa is not considered a warzone, BTW.



The answer is that you certainly CAN carry as much weaponry and personnel as you want, but that might have detrimental effects on your ability to do business.

where can i go to sign up for pirate hunting? ill chill on a ship no problem. less restrictive ROE than deployment, even!

From one of the many pirate threads.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=789448&page=3