MV AthenaCruise Ships = Pirate Bait -- Wired News
Two weeks ago, an Australian cruise ship passing through the Gulf of Aden found itself surrounded by more as much as thirty small boats. They were Somali pirates, according to initial reports, operating in the biggest coordinated group seen so far. The MV Athena opened up her throttles and escaped unharmed. Soon after the ship made port, however, the story began to change. There weren’t any pirates, a company official claimed, just tuna fishermen.
But pirates and Somali tuna fishermen are one and the same, according to Captain Edward Kalendaro, skipper of a Kenya-based coastal freighter dedicated to the dangerous Mogadishu humanitarian run. Kalendero says that these days many Somali fishermen carry weapons on their boats so that, when they spot an unprotected cargo or passenger ship, they can drop their fishing lines, pick up their RPGs and catch a prize far more lucrative than any tuna.
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My Comment: 30 little boats working together and swarming a large ocean liner .... there must be a Hollywood B movie plot somewhere there .... but the sad part of this story is it is true. A must rad piece to understand how piracy off the coast of Somalia involved more than just a few individuals .... it involves the active participation and support of most of the country.
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