An Indian warship that exchanged fire with a pirate vessel off the Horn of Africa sunk the ship in the Gulf of Aden. The skirmish took place on Tuesday when the frigate spotted the pirate ship towing two small speed boats. The pirate ship was left badly damaged and in flames but the captain of the frigate could not confirm it had sunk. The battle followed a recent pirate strike seizing the Saudi-owned supertanker. The oil tanker was carrying an oil cargo worth up to $100 million, which the pirates anchored of the coast of Somalia. So far no confirmation of a ransom can be made. The owner of the ship "Sirius Star" were negotiating with the pirates. The frigate that opened fire on the pirate vessel the Tabar, demanded that the ship stop so it could be inspected. The pirates replied by threatening to destroy the frigate and opened fire on the Tabar. The International Maritime Bureau in London quotes the "it has never seen a situation like this before". Of the 39 succesful pirate captures 17 of them are still in pirate hands. The risks are low for pirates in these areas and the return that they can get outweigh the risks. The pirates are taking advantage of this low-risk opportunity to loot and hold for ransom the valuable ships that pass through the Gulf of Aden.This is sort of a surprise to me that pirates nowadays still exist and are seizing giant ships such as oil tankers. I never knew that Somali pirate's have acces to enough resources to take on the navi of many different countries patroling the Gulf of Aden let alone hijack cargo ships. I doubt that there are not enough military ships around to stem the piracy. Nowadays most people when they think of pirates they think of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in the Pirates triology. It seemed that for a while that piracy was extinct until this year when Somali pirates have succesfully captured over 39 ships. I think that the only reason these pirates have succesfully captured so many ships is that the countries and shipping companies of the world have become careless by forgetting there is a risk other than weather on the high seas. I am sure that the crew of members of these cargo ships would at least be trained to deal and avoid pirate attacks. After all these ships carry million of dollars worth of cargo it would be absent minded not to protect them with an armed crew or more naval ships patroling. The only problem with an armed crew is that if the pirates succed the crew may be killed so it is up to the naval ships to intercept the pirates before they attack an unsuspecting trade ship.
