*THE HULL TRUTH is the world's largest FREE network for the discussion of Boating & Fishing. Whether you're researching a new boat, or are a seasoned Captain, you'll find The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Message Forum contains a wealth of information from Boaters and Sportfishermen around the world.
Best radar for medium range detection of pirate skiffs
Notices
Welcome to the updated THT!
If you are having trouble signing in, please email [email protected] with your username and we will help you. We thank you for your patience as we help you access the new site!
Random Quote: If it smells like fish, its a good dish. If it smells like cologne leave it alone.
I understand the pirates frequently prefer to aproach from astern. Have you considerred mounting a small closed array off the fan tail, just below the rail?
Also give your look-outs infra-red gear for the night watches. Remote control IR cameras might be useful too and one or two crew members could monitor several angles.
Good luck!
__________________ I'm not a boat expert, I just read THT!
I'm available for overseas assignments,,,,, armed security is the best defense,,,, the Alabama gave them a little medicine just this week'
If you're not willing to use force please don't come here and whine..
We are Americans and we will use deadly force to protect.
Adjust your radar so it looks like someone threw salt on the screen....little dots. If you leave it in auto mode you are going to miss small targets. I pick up pangas in MX at about 6 miles. You just have to make sure the gain is up.
Ythe biggest problem you face is antenna height - for 5-8 miles, 150' above deck is probably not optimum, something in the 50-60' height would probably work better, which would likely mean 1 unit for the bow and a second for the stern. IMO, I would go with a Furuno UHD x-band 25 kw unit with 8' array; if that doesn't do it, I think you are sol.
Agreed. The higher the radar, the more sea-surface reflection it suffers. (The higher the radar antenna, the more directly the signal hits the surface, and therefore the more noise in the return signal.) If the target is not beyond the horizion (at the antenna's height), the extra height hurts, not helps. I am not sure about the math, and part of the equation involves the height of the target, but I suspect that as little as 20' would be the best height for 8 mile detection. I also suspect that even a 25kw radar isn't enough to get a return on a small target beyond that range.
Every non-military ship has boarding ladders welded to the hull - allows Pilots to come aboard or leave - a necessity for port calls. Even though those ladders at 10'+ off the water, they grapple on to them and hoist themselves up. Since they are armed and the crew is not, once on deck, the ship is theirs.
Every non-military ship has boarding ladders welded to the hull - allows Pilots to come aboard or leave - a necessity for port calls. Even though those ladders at 10'+ off the water, they grapple on to them and hoist themselves up. Since they are armed and the crew is not, once on deck, the ship is theirs.
It still baffles my mind. Fire hoses, steamy hot water, boiling oil, bilge water, sewage, the list goes on and on. These guys are 40 feet below.
__________________ USCG 100 TON MASTER
Pursuit 2870 CC
Palm Beach 161
1984 Mckee Craft 14'
Sunset on the ICW
Madeira Beach, Fl
"ARRR BOAT" in Hopetown
"Many times life gives you the test, before you learn the lesson!"
Picture a supertanler full of something flammable.
Now picture an rpg. That's the big threat.
The real question is why don't these ships just form convoys and bring along an escort..... non-lethal and effective, at least for the ship owners. The escort can do what it needs to.
__________________
Terry Jason 35, Yanmar 370 hp, Lots of fun at a leisurely pace
...why don't these ships just form convoys and bring along an escort..... ...
It may come down to that but the ships are coming through on varying schedules and heading to/from many ports up and down the coast and over to Asia and Australia. Having all those ships close together has hazards of it own. It's not like WWII when all shipping was organised and controlled by the governments of USA and UK. That convoy system took a long time to organise too.
If it were up to me I'd have the navy launch cruise missiles into those McMansions going up in the pirate home ports.
__________________ I'm not a boat expert, I just read THT!
I've wondered that myself, seriously. Why not just blast the F'ers out of the water when/if they approach. Who's going to see it or say anything?
I can just hear it now, "Ah, well judge, we were about to take over a ship and takes it's Capt hostage for money and they just started shooting at our skiff!! Arest them!!"
It's going into a port that is the problem. Most countryies wont play nice with the capt, first officer and the rest of the crew.
Might think you are trying to over throw their country.
__________________ 2004 North River, 21' Seahawk 250 hp and T8 Yamaha's For Sale
2011 Ford F350 DRW
New 33' Alloy Boat in the works with Twin BF250's
Even if civilian entities could buy them - and I doubt they could, since shipowners won't even spring for $100k/yr to hire three armed guards to do security, do you really expect them tp spend $1.4 million per gun and hire a technician to operate it?
These ships have very small crews. If the skiff is not detected before it gets close to the ship, the pirates can board. There are a number of ways the bad guys get on board, such as using the existing ladders, grappling hooks, etc. Our military trains extensively in boarding hostile vessels, we even have specialized forces such as USMC "Raiders", SEALS, etc. The pirates can and do use the same techniques that our military does.
Once on board, just a couple of guys with small arms can easily take down a large vessel with a small crew, especially if surprise is on the side of the pirates. Add a couple of explosive devices, and it's easy to understand how the bad guys take down very large vessels.
With early detection, the bad guys really do not stand a chance. A ship could easily be defended by it's crew from a small pirate force that is only armed with rifles and RPGs.
Uhmmm...if you worked for an ocean shipping company why are you asking about radar questions on the internet? Are you direclty in charge of making this expensive purchase and asking about how to do it by a bunch of strangers? I would assume the shipping company would have an electronics specialist that is directly in touch with Furuno or the like.
