Maersk ship escapes pirates

Maersk ship escapes pirates       Maersk Line Ltd. said pirates in the Gulf of Aden attempted to attack the U.S.-flag Maersk Virginia, as well as a Lebanese- flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, but the attemps were thwarted by helicopters from the Canadian Navy.
      CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar was aboard the Canadian warship HMCS Winnipeg, when it responded to a distress call by Lebanese cargo ship Maria K that was being fired on by pirates with rocket propelled grenades.
      Three helicopters flew from the Winnipeg to the Maria K, located about 60 miles away. The pirates broke off their pursuit of the Maria K and headed for the Maersk Virginia. Another helicopter from the Italian navy joined the Canadian aircraft.
      “With the helicopters hovering overhead, the pirates gave up their attempted hijacking and threw their weapons overboard before their boat was boarded by Italian seamen,” CBS reported.
      The Maersk Virginia is part of the fleet of Maersk Line Ltd., the same company that operated the Maersk Alabama, the ship whose captain, Richard Phillips, was taken hostage for several days by pirates off the coast of Somalia. Phillips was rescued when U.S. navy snipers killed three pirates on Easter Sunday.

The Maersk Virginia is operated by Maersk Line Ltd., which also operates the Maersk Alabama (pictured), which was hijacked by pirates.

      Maersk said the 4300-TEU containership was en route to Salalah, Oman, and about 70 miles off the coast of Yemen when the attack occurred. It said 19 crewmembers, all U.S.citizens, are safe. The ship was traveling in a defined security corridor when the incident took place Friday morning between 10 and 11 a.m.
      Maersk said the pirates were turned away when they were about three-quarters of a mile from the ship.
      The attack could add fuel to the debate on how U.S.-flag ships should be protected.
      On Wednesday, Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, questioned the adequacy of a Coast Guard security directive issued earlier this month that requires U.S.-flagged vessels to adopt an anti- piracy plan before entering high risk waters and to employ measures such as transiting through established transit lanes, utilizing erratic course changes, and traveling at the highest possible speeds and to require vessels to 'supplement ship's crew with armed or unarmed security based on a piracy specific vessel threat assessment conducted by the operator and approved by the Coast Guard.
      “Why is it that the best our nation appears to have to offer our merchant mariners at this time is instructions on the steps they should take to protect themselves,” Cummings asked.
      “It is not at all clear to me why the Navy or, in the absence of a willingness to act on the part of the Navy, the Coast Guard, isn't providing embarked military personnel on the few U.S.-flagged vessels that transit the Horn of Africa region — most of which, I note, are carrying U.S.-government impelled cargoes.
      “We have long argued that we need a U.S.-flagged merchant fleet to carry U.S.-government cargoes and to provide sealift capacity to support DOD needs in time of war and national emergency,” he said.   
“Isn't it in our national interest to utilize the very limited U.S. military resources that would be necessary to protect our U.S.-flagged fleet rather than leaving them to implement their own defensive measures?” ' Chris Dupin