Belgium offers shipboard guards to thwart piracy

The Belgian government is offering to put military personnel on its commercial ships to combat piracy if no protection is available through Atalanta, the European Union's anti-piracy operation.

Belgian shipping companies seeking protection will need to give 48 hours notice and pay 115,000 euros (US$152,000) to have a team of eight soldiers on board for a week, the typical journey time though the Gulf of Aden, Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem said today at a press conference in Brussels.

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