Over the last two centuries, the use of military force at sea has become largely the preserve of states. The legal basis under which modern-day cargo ships -- with their often multinational crews and ownership structures -- can use lethal weaponry is far from clear, and the IMO [NOTE: the UN's The International Maritime Organization] guidelines [advising against carrying arms] have no weight in international law.
National navies patrol but can't be everywhere to stop pirates, yet countries with patrolling ships refuse to order their ships to shoot pirates on sight when they do encounter them to discourage piracy; or to land in Somalia and destroy the pirate nests. So it should be no shock that the idea of arming merchant ships is growing in acceptance to fill that security vacuum:
The worsening situation, say experts, has made it almost inevitable that today's merchant ships will buy in their own armed protection. "Nation-states don't appear to have the ability or the enthusiasm to solve the root problem," says Nikolas Gvosdev, professor of national security studies at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island. "That leaves the private sector having to manage effectively on its own."
There is a need for security at sea and national navies aren't filling that need. What do you expect will happen? The rise of privatized military capabilities is a natural result.
If we revert to a pre-Western view of the legitimacy of non-state military forces, it will be our own fault for failing to fulfill the responsibilities that our laws impose on us.
