Pirates in the News, Spring 09

... and wow was there a lot. Since the taking of the Maersk Alabama there have been squadrons of articles about pirates, pirate attacks and pirates in general.

The Maersk Alabama is still making news, here's a smattering of different articles about it that are interesting:

Interview with a crewman of the Maersk Alabama, and here, finally, the Captain of the Maersk Alabama talks about piracy in general:

Richard Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, has just begun testifying about his ordeal as a hostage of Somalian pirates before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In his statement, the captain told senators that he didn't believe arming crew members was the solution to the increasing problem of pirate attacks.

"These pirates are evolving and we must stay with the curve and evolve with them to stop these incidents from happening," said Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vt.

Phillips was freed when U.S. Navy snipers killed three pirates aboard the lifeboat who were guarding him on April 12. The Navy returned those bodies today to Somalian officials, transferring them in white wooden coffins. The Associated Press has more detailed hearing coverage here.

A comment on Obama
Then, in the days/week after there were a bunch of interesting articles, linked here for your perusal.

Timeline of pirate captures.

Two more pirate attacks foiled, including... Pirate attack foiled with deck chair!

A Puntland Court Jails 37 Pirates, 9 Pirates were arrested in the Seychelles

More has been coming out of Somalia about motivation for piracy there, specifically, and we've heard this before, dear reader, that the sale of fishing rights to other nations pushed coastal communities into piracy.