Somali Pirates Hijack South Korean Ship
By VOA
Somali pirates have hijacked a South Korean cargo ship in the Indian Ocean.
South Korean officials say the ship was traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka with a cargo of chemicals when it was commandeered Saturday by pirates.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quotes an official as saying the ship’s current location is unclear, but that the crew seems to be unharmed.
The 10,000-ton ship’s crew consists of eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 Burmese citizens.
Somali pirates have hijacked seven other ships since December 25, including several vessels off the coast of Oman.
The latest hijacking raises the number of ships held by Somali pirates to 31. The European Union naval force said recently that Somali pirates were holding more than 650 hostages.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
I cannot understand that this problem is allowed to exist, and worse, allowed to continue. The solution seems so simple: Let all countries that have ships using the area contribute a small number of highly trained soldiers. Give them a small base in a friendly country at the northern end of the area and another one at the southern end. Assign a small team of just a few, very heavily armed soldiers to every vessel when it approaches the danger zone and leave them on board until it exits the danger zone. There they can board another vessel going in the opposite direction. In other words, they travel back and forth.
Important: allow them to shoot and kill and sink the small pirate boats. Either pick-up survivors (for immediate prosecution) or let them drown. This will solve the problem overnight.
Costs: to be shared by the participating countries. It will also be substantially cheaper than deploying all those navy vessels (which – incomprehensibly – are not permitted to take action anyway).
It is ludicrous that perhaps 4 or 5 pirates on a tiny boat can hijack, and continue to hijack year after year, huge ocean-going vessels and put their crews’ lives in jeopardy! There are also other dangers, depending on the type of cargoes carried by the hijacked vessels. It is also important to the ports in the area and their respective governments.