This is exactly why the UN is a failed organization. They never get it. They don’t say anything, all the while Iran has attacked its neighbors or people they killed in the streets for the past decades. But now they ask merchant ships to cave to the pirates.
I have no problem with these ships carrying the necessary arms to stop speedboats from attacking. How else does the UN plan to stop the pirates? Or does the UN think talking to these pirates will get them to stop? No. So why make this statement when it should be to the pirates that their time is coming?
We don’t need the UN; it is nothing but a money pit for our enemies. All IMO.
https://www.westernjournal.com/un-told-merchant-ships-not-arm-pirates-piracy-escalates/
“A United Nations agency told countries to “strongly discourage” merchant ship crews from acquiring firearms to defend against piracy, despite 90 sailors being held hostage by Somali pirates.
Piracy rose in 2025, according to the annual report from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) released in June, with 171 incidents of successful or attempted attacks on the high seas. However, the agency, tied to the United Nations, took a hard position against potential targets of pirate attacks using firearms to defend themselves, referring to a circular released in June 2015, in a press release issued days after Somali pirates seized an Eritrean oil tanker on August 22.
“For legal and safety reasons, flag States should strongly discourage the carrying and use of firearms by seafarers for personal protection or for the protection of a ship,” the circular said. “Seafarers are civilians and the use of firearms requires special training and aptitudes and the risk of accidents with firearms carried on board ship is great. Carriage of arms on board ships may encourage attackers to carry firearms or even more dangerous weapons, thereby escalating an already dangerous situation. Any firearm on board may itself become an attractive target for an attacker.”
“The use of privately contracted armed security personnel on board ships may lead to an escalation of violence,” the circular adds. “The carriage of such personnel and their weapons is subject to flag State legislation and policies and is a matter for flag States to determine in consultation with shipowners, companies, and ship operators, if and under which conditions this will be allowed. Flag States should take into account the possible escalation of violence which could result from carriage of armed personnel on board merchant ships, when deciding on its policy.”