Non-lethal weapon quickly immobilizes suspicious boats
Marie Donlon | June 25, 2019
A U.K. security equipment company has developed a new family of non-lethal, boat-immobilization systems.
BCB International Ltd. has developed the technology, inspired by police road stingers, which stop runaway or speeding vehicles. The boat-stopping technology is intended for tankers that are vulnerable to piracy, halting suspected narcotics traffickers and protecting ports from terrorism.
The technology relies on compressed air and specialized, floating, arrester-line projectiles. The line is fired across the path of the moving vessel and wraps around the lower unit of outboard motors, entangling the propeller.
The target boat is quickly brought to a stop, without damaging the boat or harming occupants. Vessels weighing as much as three tonnes and traveling up to 45 knots are suitable targets for the system.
Several variants of the technology are available. The Buccaneer is the boat-mounted version for long-range interception, while the Barracuda is the handheld version for close range. The third variant is the static Sea Stinger, which can launch netting as far as 60 m.
A number of non-lethal weapons designed to thwart attacks are being used to protect maritime assets by companies and military fleets. Some examples include long-range acoustic devices (LRADs) that emit pain-inflicting sound beams to deter attacks; anti-piracy laser devices that use non-lethal lasers to simultaneously warn and distract attackers; high-power water cannons that impede boardings or fill enemy boats with water; electric fencing to surround the ship; and ballistic nets that ensnare the propellers of a suspicious boat.
The accompanying video appears courtesy of BCB International Ltd.
I am confused. It is "intended for tankers that are vulnerable to piracy" but it is for "Vessels weighing as much as three tonnes". I don't think most tankers qualify but if used before boarding it might work.
Ummmm . . . many go-fast boats use jet drives.
Low-tech counter-measures for high-tech arresting systems.
This tool below is still the best thing out there. Relatively inexpensive and is capable of reaching out and touching them at comfortable distances.
I fully understand the need to stop piracy. Adding another netting material or any other floating device that will be left behind and never recovered is not the answer. It will eventually cause issues to marine life, or even drift to areas that swimmers or regular legal boaters will have issues. Besides, for every deterrent, they will find a way around it. I don't want to be the guy, on my personal boat, stuck out in the ocean with his family due to a net wrapped around my propeller or the guy who finds a dead whale washed up on a beach that is wrapped up in a net. The bullet idea works for me!