Somali Pirates Attack the Same U.S. Ship for the Second Time In One Year
Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
by Steven Rogers
Well, they have done it again!!! The pirates have attacked a U.S. ship again. The funniest part about it is for the second time in seven months they attacked the Muersk Alabama. For those who don't remember, pirates hijacked this ship last April and took the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, hostage. They held him at gunpoint for five days in a lifeboat. Phillips was freed when Navy SEAL sharpshooters killed three of the pirates in a nighttime attack. This just goes to show that these pirates understand one thing, and that's force.
This is a great example of how merchant ships can take measures to protect themselves when sailing in treacherous waters.
Although these private security forces are expensive, in the long run they will save the shipping industry money, which can bring down the cost of goods shipped by these companies. Somali pirates were paid 3.3 million dollars on Tuesday for the release of 36 crew members from a Spanish vessel held for more than 6 weeks-showing how lucrative pirating these ships can be.
Amanda Derrick, a spokeswoman for Maersk Line Limited said simply, "The crew and captain are safe. The appropriate security measures were taken. That's the main thing, everyone's safe."
Although the international maritime community is still "solidly against" using armed security personnel on board ships, relying on the ships respective government to provide security, I believe it is obvious what measures must be taken to provide safe passage through these perilous seas.
Steven is a self proclaimed right wing Christian extremist. He is a former Marine and currently work in the laboratory of a cancer research and treatment facility. He is the father of three and is referred to as genius by his wife (mostly as a sarcastic term of endearment!)
This Article has been viewed 229 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)As of Oct 31, the hijackers have asked for 4 million dollars and have said that the Chandlers are still safe (I guess as long as we send them money!)
This pirating business is a crime. I think the 'international community' set up its own navy to hunt down these pirates and blow them out of the water. Just a thought...Good article, Steven, thanks.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.