WRAPPED in barbed wire and blanket CCTV coverage is not how most scientists go about their business. But that鈥檚 how the South African research ship FRS Algoa plans to brave the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean.
Even with such precautions, its mission 鈥� to deploy a network of 10 climate-monitoring buoys as part of a monsoon early-warning system 鈥� seems to have been scuppered from the outset.
Although it will have an armed escort, concerns over possible raids by pirates from Somalia will prevent it from deploying more than half of its buoys.
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鈥淐oncerns over possible raids by Somali pirates will stop the Algoa deploying more than half its buoys鈥�
The buoys are intended as part of a larger network set up by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to observe and predict seasonal risks of floods and drought induced by monsoons, says NOAA oceanographer Michael McPhaden. 鈥淚f we are missing part of the basin, that will reduce our ability to advise countries on how to prepare for impending seasonal disasters,鈥� he says.