Ending piracy on the high seas

Somalia's brazen pirates have struck again, this time seizing their largest vessel yet off the coast of that desperate and lawless land. Brazen brigands have captured a fully-laden Saudi Aramco-owned vessel carrying two million barrels of crude oil. The cargo is worth over $110 million at today's market prices, plus the value of the supertanker itself.

Finally, the international community will have to sit up and take concerted action against the scourge of pirates who have been a constant irritant for mariners over the past decade.

The naval forces of Britain, France, Russia and the US have a presence in the seas off Yemen and Somalia. So far, however, their vessels have failed to act as an effective deterrent against the criminals brandishing RPGs and AK47s and riding the waves in small speedy craft.

International coordination is needed to end this scourge. Warships are not the answer. What will help are squads of Marines - and we use that word in the traditional sense of a soldier who has learned the ability to fight at sea - on each vessel passing along the lawless coastlines.

Such squads can be airlifted to vessels, embarking and disembarking at set points, the cost of which should be borne by registered owners, insurers, the maritime customers and the international community at large.