Somali pirates have seized a U.S.-flagged Maersk Line ship, Maersk Alabama (pictured), carrying food to Kenya. Twenty Americans were aboard. These are the first U.S. nationals seized by pirates in the now-two-year-old global piracy war. Consider that the navies most aggressive in pursuing, and even killing, pirates, have been those whose nationals have been captured, especially France, Russia and China.
The U.S. has at least three warships solely dedicated to fighting pirates in the region, and leads the counter-piracy Combined Task Force 151. The E.U. has deployed several ships to Mombasa, Kenya — Alabama‘s destination — to protect food ships carrying aid to Somalia. Alabama was apparently hauling food to distribute to these convoys. The ship’s capture reveals a heretofore unexploited weakness in the E.U.’s strategy for protecting the Somalia aid effort from pirates. It’s not enough to guard the food ships on the final leg from Kenya to Mogadishu.
“One would hope, if American citizens are involved, the U.S. Navy would react in similar fashion [to the French],” analyst Martin Murphy said. “Historically, the U.S. Navy has been fairly aggressive in those waters. But everyone would concede that, once pirates are on board, they’ve got the upper hand. There’s not much you can do without risking killing what you’re trying to protect.”
Update #1: The crew reportedly fought back and re-took the ship!
Update #2: The pirates are reportedly holding Alabama’s captain hostage in a lifeboat.
(Photo: via The New York Times)
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There’s a case to be made for an aggressive response even if it does endanger the crew of the captured vessel. If the pirates get the message that touching an American-flagged vessel is a death sentence, they’re likely not to do it in the future. You’d also think that the consequences of the US backing down in the face of casualties are better understood now as well – Lebanon, Somalia, and the Khobar Towers led to more provocations, not less.
[...] Yesterday the American crew of the container ship Maersk Alabama successfully fought back against Somali pirates attempting to seize the vessel. The ship’s captain was kidnapped during the fighting and now the FBI is helping negotiate his release. [...]
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[...] Richard Phillips, kidnapped skipper of the U.S.-flagged vessel Maersk Alabama that was attacked by Somali pirates two days ago, tried to escape today, leaping into the water and swimming towards the U.S. Navy destroyer Bainbridge. But his captors — stranded along with Phillips in a lifeboat stolen from Alabama – fired their weapons and forced Phillips to swim back. [...]
[...] (Photo: French navy) Related: Piracy War’s Unusual Friends, Tragic Victims NATO General: Piracy Legal Challenge “Complex” Google, Radio Mix for Pirate Early Warning Pirates Smarter, More Dangerous, More Numerous South Park Goes Pirating Coast Guard’s Legal War on Pirates Mental Floss: Ten Things You Didn’t Know about Pirates Somali Pirates versus the Tuna Trade Esquire.com: Five Pirated Crews who Didn’t Fare as Well as the Americans Pirates Seize Ship with U.S. Crew Wired.co.uk: Beating Somali Pirates at Their Own Game Piracy War Escalates: Korean Seafarer Shot in Attack Video: How the Littoral Combat Ship Will Fight Pirates Offiziere.ch: Pirate Attacks Decline, but for How Long? Proceedings: Defeating Somali Pirates on Land Video: Kennedy Mwale’s Big (Pirate) Adventure Who Watches the (Pirate) Watchers? U.S. Navy Uses “Smart Power” to Fight Pirates Exclusive Video: MV Faina Released by Pirates Coast Guard: Prosecuting Pirates an “Excruciating Process” Skewz: On the Trail of Pirates C-SPAN: Somali Piracy Overview Kenyan navy sits out pirate fight Coasties and Marines join Navy pirate-fighters Inside the Navy’s prison ship Video: pirates hijack help World mobilizes to fight pirates Why robots can’t fight pirates Navy’s new “soft” pirate-fighters Pirate-fighting ship’s big problems Japan, South Korea team up to fight pirates Establishing a Somali coast guard? Coast Guard’s tips for beating pirates U.S. Navy Coordinates Counter-Piracy Fleets Pirates Not Just the Stuff of Legends How Pirates Get Paid Axe vs. Pirates: Convoy! Axe vs. Pirates: “I Fear No One but God.” Chinese Seafarers Kick Pirate Ass Kenyan Navy Fires Rhetorical Broadside against Pirates Axe vs. Pirates: Everyday Kenyans Suffering Effects of Somali Piracy Axe vs. Pirates: The Kenya Connection Piracy Threatens Somalia Aid Effort Axe vs. Pirates: The Panic Button Axe vs. Pirates: Scared onto Land by Pirate Close Call Somali Piracy Puts Squeeze on Kenyans Mombasa Looks Like This E.U. Deploying Vessel against Pirates Axe vs. Pirates: Welcome to Mombasa No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]
[...] In April, the American crew of the container ship Maersk Alabama fought off an attempted hijacking by Somali pirates 250 miles from the Somali coast. As the pirates boarded the vessel, most of the crew locked themselves in the ship’s superstructure, denying pirates the access they needed to seize control. Eventually, the crew counter-attacked, holding one of the pirates and forcing the others off the vessel and into a lifeboat. Maersk Alabama’s captain Richard Phillips had been kidnapped in the brief struggle; the crew’s attempt to trade their captive for Phillips failed, but three days later U.S. Navy snipers killed three of the pirates and freed Phillips. [...]