I got it wrong, they weren't Indonesian, they were Nepalese Ghurkas. But a thing I know that you might not, about merchant ships and pirates, which is that there are pirates everywhere. Or at least that there are all kinds of known pirate waters and the coast of Somalia is one such known pirate water. So if you don't know, now you know. There's pirates in them thar seas, and ships full of wheat and sugar hire Nepalese Ghurka guards to pretect them from same. Go read the kid brother's really-not-a-blog. Search for "pirate" -- his not-a-blog doesn't do permalinks.
Fun other fact: if you're a merchant seaman, you can vote by fax.
View Of Presidents and Pirates