The Somali Pirates have occasional been mentioned here as an oddity that may or may not have relevance to the use of pirates in a CT campaign. Either way they are fascinating.
In a nut-shell two things lead to Somali Pirates, the depletion of their fishing grounds by foriegn trawlers and the requirements for international sailors on merchant vessels to have qualifications. These two events put a lot of sea-going Somali's & fishing boats out of work. Other circumstances assisted in creating the right environment, such as the lack of effective government, etc.
The latest twist in this NZ Herald article
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10619829
indicates the a side effect of the pirates activities has been to keep the international trawlers away. The fishing has returned.
I saw Avatar last night & whilst enjoying the movie, was a little sceptical at the plot line of natives with bows & arrows fighting off 'the Sky People'. But putting the corporate miners into the context of the international trawlers (ie: not having the weight of government forces behind them), perhaps such a plot line isn't so implausible?
In a CT context, the belters of a low tech world find a major corporation starts claiming the best parts of the asteroid belt. Simultaneously the corporation funds a class C starport and introduces Imperial qualification requirements for all crew on ships visiting this system. Qualifications impossible to get on this planet.
The belters and ex-starship crew now find themselves un-employed, unable to feed thier families and pissed off. Not to mention they already have quite a few small craft and likely have access to some starships.
The mining corporation, operating within Imperial Law, could easily creat a starport facility, introduce local space travel regulations and an enforcement arm (space customs/police) from mercenaries. All geared to ensuring a local monopoly of the belt resources.
Would the locals resort to piracy in thier frustration? How will the corporation deal with the inhabited parts of the belt? What if one occupied asteriod contained large quantities of 'Unobtanium'? Would the results of low tech piracy/insurection be enough to drive off the corporate miners?
How or would the Imperium respond when on the face of it, the corporation has added significantly to the worlds membership in the interstellar community? On the other hand the Imperium may view the economic upheaval caused by the corporation as being detrimental to interstellar trade and the local rights of sophonts. There again, would a low tech, low pop system with few resources and poor government be ignored by the Imperial Navy, so long as the troubles stay within the system and Imperial rule of "the space between the stars" is not questioned.
Whilst not condoning the RL actions of the pirates or international trawlers, I do find the dynamics when applied to Traveller lead to interesting questions. I may have to find a system to develop on these lines. It would have to feature a stock market for raising Piracy capital of course and off-planet investors in piracy.
In a nut-shell two things lead to Somali Pirates, the depletion of their fishing grounds by foriegn trawlers and the requirements for international sailors on merchant vessels to have qualifications. These two events put a lot of sea-going Somali's & fishing boats out of work. Other circumstances assisted in creating the right environment, such as the lack of effective government, etc.
The latest twist in this NZ Herald article
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10619829
indicates the a side effect of the pirates activities has been to keep the international trawlers away. The fishing has returned.
I saw Avatar last night & whilst enjoying the movie, was a little sceptical at the plot line of natives with bows & arrows fighting off 'the Sky People'. But putting the corporate miners into the context of the international trawlers (ie: not having the weight of government forces behind them), perhaps such a plot line isn't so implausible?
In a CT context, the belters of a low tech world find a major corporation starts claiming the best parts of the asteroid belt. Simultaneously the corporation funds a class C starport and introduces Imperial qualification requirements for all crew on ships visiting this system. Qualifications impossible to get on this planet.
The belters and ex-starship crew now find themselves un-employed, unable to feed thier families and pissed off. Not to mention they already have quite a few small craft and likely have access to some starships.
The mining corporation, operating within Imperial Law, could easily creat a starport facility, introduce local space travel regulations and an enforcement arm (space customs/police) from mercenaries. All geared to ensuring a local monopoly of the belt resources.
Would the locals resort to piracy in thier frustration? How will the corporation deal with the inhabited parts of the belt? What if one occupied asteriod contained large quantities of 'Unobtanium'? Would the results of low tech piracy/insurection be enough to drive off the corporate miners?
How or would the Imperium respond when on the face of it, the corporation has added significantly to the worlds membership in the interstellar community? On the other hand the Imperium may view the economic upheaval caused by the corporation as being detrimental to interstellar trade and the local rights of sophonts. There again, would a low tech, low pop system with few resources and poor government be ignored by the Imperial Navy, so long as the troubles stay within the system and Imperial rule of "the space between the stars" is not questioned.
Whilst not condoning the RL actions of the pirates or international trawlers, I do find the dynamics when applied to Traveller lead to interesting questions. I may have to find a system to develop on these lines. It would have to feature a stock market for raising Piracy capital of course and off-planet investors in piracy.
