Slain Pirates Were 'Untrained Teenagers': US

In Jefferson's time, US hit land bases

(NEWSER) - One way for the US to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden is to cut it off at the source, targeting Somali pirate land bases. Coupled with economic and food aid for Somalia’s citizens, this plan is the only “silver-bullet solution,” an analyst tells Bloomberg. Such a strategy hearkens back two centuries to Thomas Jefferson’s eradication of the Barbary pirates. More»

Some 20 are currently languishing aboard two ships

(NEWSER) - The US Navy has no idea what to do with 10 alleged Somali pirates that have been languishing in the brig on one of its warships for more than a month. Though any country can jail and prosecute pirates under international law, the US only does so if they're accused of attacking US ships. These guys were attacking an Indian vessel when they were apprehended, so the US is looking for someone to take them off its hands; another 10, suspected in a second incident, are jailed on a second warship. More»

Eight pirates captured while trying to escape

(NEWSER) - A US warship stepped in to defend a Tanzanian ship that was under attack from pirates, scaring off and capturing the scallywags. When the USS Farragut got a distress call from the Tanzanians saying a gang on a skiff was attacking them, a Seahawk helicopter was dispatched to the scene. The pirates fled at the sight of the copter, but it stopped their skiff by firing across its bow. More»

(NEWSER) - The Navy is questioning the crew of the Maersk Alabama and members of its own SEAL unit about $30,000 that went missing from the hijacked cargo ship, the New York Post reports. The money was taken by the pirates during the hijacking attempt but was not recovered after they were killed or captured. “We don't comment on the details of an ongoing investigation,” said a spokesman from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. More»

(AP) - Hijackers seized a German-owned ship in the pirate-infested waters between Somalia and Yemen today, a US Navy spokesman said. Pirates captured the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot in the Gulf of Aden about 150 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni coastal city of Muqalla. An official from the German Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm the ship's capture. More»