Consider the Maersk Alabama the unluckiest merchant vessel in the seven seas. Not two years after its captain was taken hostage by Somali pirates, it fended off its third attempted hijacking by pirates as it sailed to Mombasa.
The container ship Maersk, you'll recall, was the scene of one of the more dramatic pirate rescues in recent memory. After it became the first U.S. flagged ship seized by pirates in 200 years, Navy sharpshooters aboard the U.S.S. *Bainbridge *liberated Captain Richard Phillips with just three shots to end a five-day standoff in the Indian Ocean. That all happened on Easter Sunday 2009, no less.
So you can forgive the crew for being somewhat less than willing to put up with further pirate provocations. Later that year, when pirates approached the Maersk, its new security staff fired off warning shots and pelted the illicit skiff with acoustic weaponry.
But the pirates didn't get the message. Earlier today, a spokesman for the Maersk's parent company disclosed that a "suspicious skiff" carrying four passengers and a ladder started pursuing the ship. When the pirates got within half a nautical mile, security officers on board fired off more warning shots, prompting the skiff to turn away. (Hat tip: gCaptain.)
That has to be some kind of record. You can only imagine what the black humor must be aboard the Maersk. Its crew have become evangelists for arming merchant ships -- a call that might resonate even more now that pirates are showing themselves willing to kill hostages.
Photo: DoD
See Also:- U.S. Ship Repels Pirates With Sonic Blaster, Bullets (Updated)
