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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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Pirates Fail in Attack on US Ship

It's now under escort of USS Bainbridge, with Capt. Phillips

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(Newser) – Capt. Richard Phillips' reunion with his crew and family may be delayed a bit because of yet another pirate attack. Somali pirates fired on another US ship today but failed to board it, CNN reports. That ship, the Liberty Sun, is now under the military escort of the USS Bainbridge—the same ship that rescued Phillips and is carrying him back to land. He's still due to fly back to the US sometime tomorrow, assuming the Bainbridge isn't diverted further.

"The pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the vessel, which sustained damage," said a statement from Liberty Maritime Corporation in New York, which owns the Liberty Sun. An Illinois woman said her son is aboard the ship and emailed her news of the initial attack. About 90 minutes later, he told her the Navy had arrived and "all is well."

The USS Bainbridge, in a 2007 file photo.
The USS Bainbridge, in a 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Petty Officer 2nd Class Vincent J. Street)
Capt. Richard Phillips after his rescue.
Capt. Richard Phillips after his rescue.   (AP Photo/U.S. Navy photo)
A Kenyan police boat patrols near the Maersk Alabama at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Monday, April 13, 2009.
A Kenyan police boat patrols near the Maersk Alabama at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Monday, April 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
In this undated photo, suspected pirates are seen after they were intercepted by marine commandos of the French Navy in the Gulf of Aden.
In this undated photo, suspected pirates are seen after they were intercepted by marine commandos of the French Navy in the Gulf of Aden.   (AP Photo/ECPAD-French Defense Ministry)
The Maersk Alabama ship lies in dock as the sun sets Monday, April 13, 2009 at Port of Mombasa Kenya.
The Maersk Alabama ship lies in dock as the sun sets Monday, April 13, 2009 at Port of Mombasa Kenya.   (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
The sun sets behind the Norwegian-registered Bow Asir, Monday, April 13, 2009 after it arrived in the port of Mombasa. The owner of a Norwegian tanker says it has been released by Pirates, two weeks after it was seized off the Somali coast.
The sun sets behind the Norwegian-registered Bow Asir, Monday, April 13, 2009 after it arrived in the port of Mombasa. The owner of a Norwegian tanker says it has been released by Pirates, two weeks after...   (AP Photo / Karel Prinsloo)
An unidentified crew member of the Maersk Alabama is seen on the ship at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Monday, April 13, 2009.
An unidentified crew member of the Maersk Alabama is seen on the ship at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Monday, April 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
This Sept. 25, 2007 photo Monday April 13, 2009, shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge underway off the coast of Somalia Sept. 25, 2007 while conducting anti-piracy operations.
This Sept. 25, 2007 photo Monday April 13, 2009, shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge underway off the coast of Somalia Sept. 25, 2007 while conducting anti-piracy operations.   (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Petty Officer 2nd Class Vincent J. Street)
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We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets. We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no one is hurt. - Thomas Urbik, Wheaton, Ill., aboard ship

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IN RESPONSE:
kokuaguy
Apr 15, 09 12:27 PM CDT
No, this doesn't make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters - especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But the "pirates" have the overwhelming support of the local population for a reason. The independent Somalian news-site WardherNews conducted the best research we have into what ordinary Somalis are thinking - and it found 70 percent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country's territorial waters." During the revolutionary war in America, George Washington and America's founding fathers paid pirates to protect America's territorial waters, because they had no navy or coastguard of their own. Most Americans supported them. Is this so different? Johann Hari
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 14, 09 10:51 PM CDT
Ships are completely inadequate to patrol such a large and vulnerable area... the answer to putting an end to this nonsense is the AH-64A/D Apache Attack Helicopter... http://www.militarypower.com.br/english-frame4-apache.htm Reply
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jaguarj
Apr 15, 09 10:01 AM CDT
How about a stealth??? Helicopters make too much noise! I 'm sure they are figuring out the next strategy...no more bluffing at this point.
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woody66
Apr 14, 09 11:24 PM CDT
How about a few shoulder mounted heat seeking or laser guided missile launchers on board with some re-employed blackwater guys on the trigger on every 7th or 8th vessel for the next year or two. Russian roulette. You pick the wrong ship you lose. Relatively low cost and likely to be quite effective. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
shonangreg
Apr 14, 09 11:54 PM CDT
Why Blackwater? Regular US military soldiers are not as expensive as Blackwater mercenaries. Shipping companies could pay the US treasury directly. As to the Russian roulette, you *might* be right, but the desperate circumstances in Somalia could still see warlords (?) sending recruits on one suicide mission after another. I'd guess that the only way to stop the attacks would be to protect all the ships and thereby smother the pirate camps. I'm guessing: 1) There will be "no go" lanes excluding fishermen (the cover for the pirates) 2) ships queuing and being escourted by navy ships through the area 3) and greater coordination by all navies in the area. .............. If we can mount a reasonable, sustainable defense, the pirates will do something else.
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