Apparently, yours still more tenuous, as what you describe is known as privateering , not piracy. Piracy is independent of government funding. Being that there is basically no functional national government in Somalia, this is what we are seeing there.
Again, to say that armament is not a deterrent is to betray a very peculiar mental block that I attribute to a generalized hoplophobia that seems to affect a great many people on the other side of the pond from here.
Historically, the status of privateer as opposed to pirate depends purely on whose side you are. Mr burns your reading comprehension needs work, at no point did I suggest that the Somalian pirates were privateers or government funded. On another point, I had already conceded that arming crews would act as a deterrent (up until they ran out of un-armed ships to prey on.)
My objection to arming civilian crews is that I don't think they are up to the task of defending themselves against the Somalians. Tell me, Mr Burns, if you had a straight up fight between an armed civilian crew and experienced guerillas who are you going to put your money on? I would think that American military history would give you a tad more respect for the abilities of the Somalian militia, remind me again, how many elite American military units were tied up in Mogadishu? Yet, you cling to the idea that the same military forces can be defeated by the ships cook if s/he were only allowed to carry guns?! How laughable.
The question of whether I would prefer to be armed if I were thrown into that situation is utterly irrelevant. These civilian crews are someone's employees, in this country at least, we have laws to prevent employers putting employees in harms way; giving the employee a gun and telling him to defend the ship's cargo is hardly fulfilling that obligation.
I once had a job as a store manager, if someone had entered that store waving a gun around and wanting the contents of the safe, I would have given him a bag, emptied the safe and got him out of the store as fast as humanly possible. The money was insured so I had one goal in that situation, to ensure that my staff, customers and myself lived to tell the tale. Whilst I am sure leaping over the counter and gunning down the would be thief in a hail of bullets would do far more for my ego, it's not the most sensible approach is it?
I have no doubt that military action will be needed to solve this problem, expecting civilians to do the work for you suggests that you have been watching too many Steven Seagal movies.
I see you are now resorting to made-up words! However, you are far wide of the mark, I enjoy shooting thanks.