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- You catch a pirate—now what?
Hanging pirates from the yardarm is so 18th-century. The modern freebooter often benefits from the absence of any controlling legal authority on the high seas. In September, the Danish navy nabbed ten pirates in the Gulf of Aden and held them for six days; it turned out that Danish law doesn't allow their prosecution in Denmark, so the men were put back ashore in Somalia. The government of Kenya agreed recently to accept Somali pirates for prosecution, but human rights groups have complained that the country's dubious judicial system can't be relied on for fair trials. Experts say that while a trial in New York for the surviving piratefrom the Maersk hijacking—whom Defense Secretary Robert Gates called an "untrained teenager"—is constitutional, it's uncharted legal territory. It's also the first such case in more than a century. - Antipiracy 101
Shippers have resisted arming their crews, which would deny them port in some nations. They also say the likelihood of casualties increases when guns come out—especially when the pirates arrive armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and ships carry explosive chemicals. Until recently, ships' defenses had been limited largely to things like water or fire hoses, electrified fences, greased railings, and evasive maneuvers. Post-Maersk, the U.S. military is urging arms for crews. "It's tough to be on the end of a water hose if the other guy is on the end of an RPG," quipped Gen. David Petraeus in April. - Cast a wide net
After a spike in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden in the fall, 18 countries contributed warships to an armada to police the region. Incidents tapered off, but the Gulf of Aden is 920 by 300 miles, and the pirates are adaptive: "We can't be everywhere at once," says Lt. Nathan Christensen, a U.S. Navy spokesman. "This is basically a case of pirates going where the cops aren't." The 20-plus warships now deployed in the Gulf of Aden are a fraction of what would be needed to guard thousands of commercial ships, sources say. - Gang up on them
Secretary of State Clinton has urged international cooperation in stopping pirates. Writing in the New York Times, Wayne Long, former UN chief security officer in Somalia, offered a plan: Cut off UN aid to the Somali clan or region in which hostages are being held. Long used this approach as early as 2000 to negotiate the return of pirate captives. In every instance, there was a release without hostages harmed or ransom paid.
The Time Line
| 75 BC | Pirates in the eastern Mediterranean kidnap 25-year-old Roman noble-man Julius Caesar. Bad move. After ransom is paid and the future emperor is released, Caesar returns with a fleet, captures the pirates, and crucifies them all. |
| 1523 | French pirate Jean Fleury intercepts Spanish treasure ships laden with gold, jewels, and exotic animals plundered from Aztec lands. |
| 1535 | Barbarossa, aka Redbeard—Ottoman hero, scourge of Christendom—captures the isle of Capri. |
| 1698 | The Scotsman William "Captain" Kidd seizes his biggest prize, the loot-laden Armenian ship Cara Merchant, off the coast of India. His exploits eventually lead to his arrest, trial in London, and, in 1701, execution. |
| 1718 | After years of harassing British colonies, Blackbeard (Edward Teach) achieves career highlight: blockading city of Charleston, South Carolina, for one week. |
| 1801 | Tired of their ceaseless ransom demands, President Thomas Jefferson builds a navy and goes to war against the pirate states of the Barbary Coast of North Africa. |
| 1810 | The Chinese government, unable to defeat Mistress Ching and her Red Flag pirate fleet in the South China Sea, offers her amnesty. She accepts, retires wealthy. |
| 1856 | European powers agree to end privateering. For more than two centuries, countries had authorized homegrown oceangoing outlaws to attack and plunder enemy shipping during wartime. |
| 1991 | The end of any functioning government in Somalia ensures chaos, hardship. |
| 1998—2002 | Piracy ramps up off Indonesia and Malaysia, with 713 attacks. These bandits aren't after ransom, preferring to kill or maroon crews, pillage ships, and sell the cargo under false papers. |
| 2003 | Release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, inspired by a Disney theme park ride. Also: Somali fishermen step up harassment of commercial fishing boats. |
| 2008 | Somali pirates seize largest ship ever taken, the oil tanker Sirius Star. Ransom eventually paid: $3 million (via parachute drops). |
| 2009 | After a lull early in the year, Somali pirates are back at it, seizing five ships during a 48-hour period. They overreach with the Maersk and the kidnapping of Capt. Richard Phillips. Three die in the ensuing standoff: No sympathy and bad PR. |
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