# American Ship Hijacked off Somalia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396 "2009-04-08T15:03:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/1 "2009-04-08T15:03:14Z")
I heard about this this morning…and I haven’t seen anything more. It is a Maersk owned ship, but USA flagged-with 20 American crewmen on board. My questin: will Maersk pay a ransom? Or will something else be tried? I though the combined naves of the world were patrolling the area-how did they get caught? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/2 "2009-04-08T15:08:22Z")
[AP Story](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy) [QUOTE=ralph124c] I though the combined naves of the world were patrolling the area-how did they get caught? [/QUOTE] It’s a big ocean. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/3 "2009-04-08T15:09:23Z")
Somebody please feed the hamsters! ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/4 "2009-04-08T15:25:45Z")
From the linked (in post #2) article: > [@](#): > > It was the sixth ship seized within a week, a rise that analysts attribute to a new strategy by Somali pirates who are operating far from the warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden. > > \ > > U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said the closest U.S. ship at the time of the hijacking was 345 miles (555 kilometers)away. > > “The area, the ship was taken in, is not where the focus of our ships has been,” Christensen told The Associated Press by phone from the 5th Fleet’s Mideast headquarters in Bahrain. “The area we’re patrolling is more than a million miles in size. Our ships cannot be everywhere at every time.” The pirates reacted to the patrols by seizing ships deeper in the Indian Ocean, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/5 "2009-04-08T15:51:39Z")
Recent [report](http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19126517/detail.html) indicates that the crew has retaken control of the ship, capturing one pirate, and throwing 3 overboard. One can only hope the captured pirate is hanged by the neck until dead. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/6 "2009-04-08T16:51:00Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Recent [report](http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19126517/detail.html) indicates that the crew has retaken control of the ship, capturing one pirate, and throwing 3 overboard. One can only hope the captured pirate is hanged by the neck until dead. Yay! Good for them! ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/7 "2009-04-08T17:00:39Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > One can only hope the captured pirate is hanged by the neck until dead. Better yet, held hostage and persuaded to confess the location of the mother ship. I’m sure the USN would have a plan of action from there. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/8 "2009-04-08T17:11:46Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Recent [report](http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19126517/detail.html) indicates that the crew has retaken control of the ship, capturing one pirate, and **throwing 3 overboard.** One can only hope the captured pirate is hanged by the neck until dead. No plank? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/9 "2009-04-08T17:18:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I heard about this this morning..and I haven’t seen anything more. It is a Maersk owned ship, but USA flagged-with 20 American crewmen on board. My questin: will Maersk pay a ransom? Or will something else be tried? > I though the combined naves of the world were patrolling the area-how did they get caught? As I understand it, they just wait until the patrol ships finish patrolling and then move in on a ship, because they know the response time is like, forevah, for them to get back. There just aren’t enough patrols to adequately protect all the ships. I’d be scared to death to be in a ship in that area. This is the sixth hijacking in a week? What the FUCK! ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/10 "2009-04-08T17:42:03Z")
My understanding is that merchant ships arent allowed to be armed with any significant weapons. They are just allowed some non-lethal countermeasures. This more or less makes them tempting targets on the sea. I imagine if these international treaties were changed to allow a couple .50 guns then the pirate problem would clear up. You probably dont want these things docking with big guns, perhaps crews can dismount them and lock them up when in port. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/11 "2009-04-08T21:10:57Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > No plank? A 19th Century fiction, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/12 "2009-04-09T00:23:55Z")
> [@HorseloverFat](#): > > My understanding is that merchant ships arent allowed to be armed with any significant weapons. They are just allowed some non-lethal countermeasures. This more or less makes them tempting targets on the sea. I imagine if these international treaties were changed to allow a couple .50 guns then the pirate problem would clear up. I don’t know just who you think it would be that wouldn’t _allow_ merchant ships to be armed. Unless it’s the insurance company that has a policy on the ship. They would be concerned, because a big merchant ship is so vulnerable to cheap, readily available weapons now. If the merchant ships started mounted .50 machine guns, the pirates would respond by carrying shoulder-fired weapons that could damage (or even sink) a ship. (Like the Argentines used against British warships during the Fauklands war.) And you don’t want to be on a ship filled with tons of flammable oil when the pirates start firing those at you. Nor do you want to be the one insuring that ship, either. From an accounting viewpoint, it’s much cheaper to just pay the ransom rather than risk having a multi-million dollar ship & cargo destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/13 "2009-04-09T03:26:27Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > If the merchant ships started mounted .50 machine guns, the pirates would respond by carrying shoulder-fired weapons that could damage (or even sink) a ship. It’s not immediately clear how pirates would profit from sinking a ship. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/14 "2009-04-09T03:36:02Z")
I find this incredibly ironic. ([source](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090409/ap_on_re_af/piracy_68)) > [@AP](#): > > The pirates usually use rocket propelled grenades, anti-tank rocket launchers and automatic weapons to capture large, slow-moving vessels like the U.S.-flagged 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food aid from USAID and other agencies to help malnourished people in Uganda and Somalia. Somali pirates violently captured a ship which contained humanitarian aid in the form of food for the starving peoples of Somalia. Classy. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/15 "2009-04-09T04:20:19Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It’s not immediately clear how pirates would profit from sinking a ship. It shows the world and other vessels if you don’t let them board you will be sank.. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/16 "2009-04-09T04:38:10Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I don’t know just who you think it would be that wouldn’t _allow_ merchant ships to be armed. > > Unless it’s the insurance company that has a policy on the ship. They would be concerned, because a big merchant ship is so vulnerable to cheap, readily available weapons now. If the merchant ships started mounted .50 machine guns, the pirates would respond by carrying shoulder-fired weapons that could damage (or even sink) a ship. (Like the Argentines used against British warships during the Fauklands war.) > > And you don’t want to be on a ship filled with tons of flammable oil when the pirates start firing those at you. Nor do you want to be the one insuring that ship, either. From an accounting viewpoint, it’s much cheaper to just pay the ransom rather than risk having a multi-million dollar ship & cargo destroyed. Going into a port with arms could get the ship and or ship’s crew confined. Also I imagine the US Coast Guard or th ABS would go ballistic. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/17 "2009-04-09T06:06:04Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I don’t know just who you think it would be that wouldn’t _allow_ merchant ships to be armed. You do not think ships are subject to laws and regulations of the countries whose flags they fly, plus the countries whose territorial waters the visit, plus international laws of the sea? Why would you think that? ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/18 "2009-04-09T06:31:38Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I don’t know just who you think it would be that wouldn’t _allow_ merchant ships to be armed. The ports concerned. I don’t think the US would want armed Chinese ships sailing into the Port of Oakland. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/19 "2009-04-09T08:14:54Z")
Also, those weapons would end up in the hands of pirates who successfully raided the ships. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396/20 "2009-04-09T10:16:40Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I don’t know just who you think it would be that wouldn’t _allow_ merchant ships to be armed. > > Unless it’s the insurance company that has a policy on the ship. They would be concerned, because a big merchant ship is so vulnerable to cheap, readily available weapons now. If the merchant ships started mounted .50 machine guns, the pirates would respond by carrying shoulder-fired weapons that could damage (or even sink) a ship. (Like the Argentines used against British warships during the Fauklands war.) I love this because it’s a very American solution… more guns! If every merchant ship on the ocean was armed even minor misunderstandings could turn into pitched battles and some of those weapons would inevitably fall into the wrong hands at some stage. Would the US be happy if armed Iranian ships could roam around off the East coast? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ship-hijacked-off-somalia/492396.md?page=2)