Somali Piracy and Armed Guards

Jon Huggins, director of Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a Denver-based foundation dedicated to combating piracy, was interviewed on 18 December 2012 by Global Observatory on the issue of Somali piracy.  He viewed the use of armed guards on commercial vessels as a short-term fix for dealing with pirates.  OBP prefers peaceful solutions to ending piracy based on the rule of law.  He did acknowledge, however, that the use of armed guards has significantly reduced the number of successful pirate attacks.