One of the rules of firearm safety is to be sure of your target. Well apparently that rule applies to piracy as well. A group of Somali pirates screwed up big time when they attacked a French naval vessel thinking it was a cargo ship. From the article:
“Once they realised they were facing a ship that was responding and was heading towards them, they stopped shooting and attempted to flee,” he said.
“The Somme gave chase and intercepted one of the pirates’ boats. All the weapons had apparently been tossed into the sea and the suspected pirates are now being held on board the Somme.”
So yeah if you plan on plundering ships on the high seas of Somalia you may want to make sure your targets are unarmed merchant ships. This story exemplify arming ships and their crews though. It seems the Somali pirates aren’t as inclined to board a ship when they are being shot at. Who would have guessed?