wrote

The ship, its contents, and ransom money are just property, a commodity
much less valuable than the lives of the ship crews.

If the shipping companies value these men so much, why to they send them
unarmed into hostile waters? If they are so valued, why doesn't the US send
a team of SEALS in there and clean house? A few 50BMGs on a boat should
keep some skinny villagers away from a huge vessel with just some warning
snots.

If you read closely the descriptions of these crews, they are multinational
and one wonders how they all even communicate. They are probably the
futigives and derelicts of various nations. The main crew are skilled
people. The rest are just oilers and deckhands.