American Ship hijacked, crew retake vessel

April 8, 2009,

Location: Near Coast of Somalia

Today for the first time since the Barbary Wars era, an American Ship, Alabama, was hijacked owned by Maersk Company but with an all American Crew.

Hours later, The Crew were able to retake the ship and were able to have one pirate in custody. The rest of the pirates are believed to be in the water, and also took the captain of the Alabama with them. 6 US Navy ships are now heading to the area where the ship was hijacked to assist the Alabama and to search for The Captain and the remaining pirates.

This incident along with others in the area only proves two things America, and the Ships must be allowed to do. We need to send troops INTO Somalia and take out these pirates and prove these thugs that if they want to enter this business, they will pay a price. The original creation of the Marines was to destroy Piracy in Northern Africa, tripoli, and the Caribbean. This actually was also the beginning of good relations with our former enemy, Great Britain, as we both had an interest in taking out the pirates. It is also in the Marines hymn, "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli."

It also proves that Ships must be allowed to arm themselves, or at least give them the option too. The US Navy cant protect the entire region (also other areas have piracy too, Philippines, parts of South America, and even some places in the Caribbean.) Right now International Law pretty much makes it impossible to carry weapons on board a ship in International Waters. It's only a matter of time before they capture a Cruise Ship. They have all ready attemped this twice with two high end ships, Crystal Cruises' Seabourn Spirit, and Oceania Cruises' Nautica. Some cruise lines have even told people to get off in Egypt, fly them to Dubai, and pick up thier passengers a few days later in Dubai.

Lets use our Air Force, and Troops, and Navy to attack these Pirate cities/ports, let the ships be able to defend themselves,  and maybe let the private industry be able to protect these ships. If we don't put a stop to Piracy, it is only going to rise because it is happening in areas where people make less than $5,000 and if you are making millions for one ship, it's only going to attract more business.