Praise, revenge threats following hostage rescue
A day after the rescue of the captain of the containership
Maersk Alabama in a shoot-out that left three of his pirate captors dead, there is both concern about the safety of some 250 crewmembers being held on 14 other hijacked vessels and praise for the U.S. Navy’s decisive action.
Agence France Presse quoted a Somali pirate chief as threatening to target Americans in revenge for the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, claiming the pirates had agreed to free the hostage. The Navy said the pirates were killed by snipers as they were menacing Phillips with guns.
“We will intensify our attacks even reaching very far away from Somalia waters, and next time we get American citizens ‘ they (should) expect no mercy from us,”
AFP quoted Abdi Garad from the pirate stronghold of Eyl.
But Capt. Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau, whose Piracy Reporting Center keeps track of ship hijacking and other piracy activities praised the action by the U.S. Navy.
“We have a criminal phenomenon, and unless there is a firm push back against the pirates like we saw from the Navy, the audacity and violence will increase. This is exactly the kind of response flag states should take. The Navy was very professional and they took action with all due care,” he told
American Shipper in an interview. “The alternative is doing nothing and giving the pirates free reign.”
Mukundan said while naval presence in the Gulf of Aden has helped reduce attacks there, pirates are attacking ships further from shore in the Indian Ocean.
The bureau is already advising ships, if possible, to stay 600 nautical miles from East Africa. But Mukundan noted that is impossible for ships such as the
Maersk Alabama, which was bound for Kenya.
Mukundan said the bureau is reviewing its recommendations, but he was unsure whether the recent upsurge in piracy would cause even more ships to route vessels via the Cape of Good Hope, noting that ships moving from the Persian Gulf or Pakistan and North India were in danger of being attacked.
He said it might be attractive for navies to attack pirate mother ships if they can properly identify them, because taking out a single mother ship might prevent launches from attacking up to two-dozen ships.
‘ Chris Dupin 
