Somali pirates hijack 4 more ships, take 60 hostages

[Steven]

Undeterred Somali pirates went on a hijacking spree, brazenly capturing four more ships and taking over 60 crew members hostage in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway at the center of the world’s fight against piracy.

Pirates have vowed to retaliate for five colleagues slain by U.S. and French forces in recent hostage rescues — and the top U.S. military officer said Tuesday he takes those comments seriously.

But Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that “we’re very well prepared to deal with anything like that.”

Despite Mullen’s confident statement and President Barack Obama’s warning of further U.S. action, pirates captured two more nautical trophies Tuesday to match the two ships they seized a day or two earlier.

The latest seizures were the Lebanese-owned cargo ship MV Sea Horse, the Greek-managed bulk carrier MV Irene E.M. and two Egyptian fishing boats. Maritime officials said the Irene carried 21 to 23 Filipino crew and Egyptian officials reported 36 fishermen, mostly Egyptians, on the two boats.

It was not known exactly how many crew the Sea Horse had on board, but a ship that size would probably need at least a dozen.

NATO spokeswoman Shona Lowe said pirates in three or four speedboats captured the Sea Horse on Tuesday — an attack that came only hours after the Irene was seized in a rare overnight raid.

The two Egyptian fishing boats were hijacked in the gulf off Somalia’s northern coast but it was not clear if those attacks came Monday or Sunday.

The Gulf of Aden,which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is one of the world’s busiest and most vital shipping lanes, crossed by over 20,000 ships each year.

A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted many attacks on ships this year, but say the area is so vast they can’t stop all hijackings.

Pirates have attacked 78 ships this year, hijacking 19 of them, and 17 ships with over 300 crew still remain in pirates’ hands, according to Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

Each boat carries the potential of a million-dollar ransom.

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[Drums of War]

Kill them again. The Pirates need to understand that the days of getting money are over. This way pirating will not be worth it to them and they'll stop.

[Militant Poet]

Originally Posted by Drums of War

Kill them again. The Pirates need to understand that the days of getting money are over. This way pirating will not be worth it to them and they'll stop.

Until they have a new way of making a living the Pirates will keep doing what they're doing.

[Infinite911911]

Originally Posted by Drums of War

Kill them again. The Pirates need to understand that the days of getting money are over. This way pirating will not be worth it to them and they'll stop.

I agree 100%.

[Patrick Henry]

Originally Posted by Militant Poet

Until they have a new way of making a living the Pirates will keep doing what they're doing.

And that won't happen until the economy gets better.

[Plato]

Originally Posted by Patrick Henry

And that won't happen until the economy gets better.

Sorry if this is a little immature, but what does the economy have to do with the pirates, other than the fact that they can get jobs in other places. Somalia doesn't even HAVE A GOVERNMENT!

[St. Anger]

Originally Posted by Plato

Sorry if this is a little immature, but what does the economy have to do with the pirates, other than the fact that they can get jobs in other places. Somalia doesn't even HAVE A GOVERNMENT!

Yea, Somalia first needs a Government, then laws before they can get jobs. The only way to stop this would be to arm the ships.

[Militant Poet]

The Pirates just attacked another U.S. cargo ship, they couldn't get onboard though...

The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked Tuesday by Somali pirates, according to a NATO source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The pirates never made it onto the ship. The vessel is now being escorted by a coalition ship, still bound for Mombasa.

The source could provide no details on where the vessel was attacked but said it is suspected the pirates were based on a mother ship somewhere in the area

Pirates attack U.S. cargo ship but fail to get aboard - CNN.com

[And Justice for All]

Originally Posted by St. Anger

Yea, Somalia first needs a Government, then laws before they can get jobs. The only way to stop this would be to arm the ships.

Guns on the ships would be a great first start, but are these few pirate attacks (out of the thousands of ships out at sea) worth having our merchant ships sailing around armed? I think that can cause more problems then solve.