State radio said about 250 Marines were set to deploy to Darwin from early April as part of a process that will see about 2,500 in Australia by about 2016, according to a plan announced by President Barack Obama last year.
"This first year, of course, we start pretty small," the commander of Australia's First Brigade, Brigadier General Gus McLachlan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"We have got about 250 arriving in early April. This first year is almost just a foot in the door, proof of concept, and obviously it will build up in a pretty measured pace in the next few years."
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Merchant Vessel Defense Against Pirates
Preemptive Measures Can Prevent Boarding and Hostage Taking
Too often, ship operators fail to take proper anti-piracy security measures, effectively turning their merchant vessels into “Golden Geese” ripe for the taking, writes the author. He goes on to discuss proven methods of hardening commercial ships and training their crews to prevent pirates – whether from Somalia or elsewhere – from boarding vessels and taking crews hostage.
