[ti:EXPLORATIONS] [ar:Voice of America] [al:VOA Special English] [by:WWW.51VOA.COM] [00:00.00]51VOA.COM [00:10.84]I'm Shirley Griffith. [00:11.98]And I'm Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS [00:15.90]in VOA Special English. [00:18.71]Today we tell about a wave of crime [00:22.78]taking place in the warm waters [00:25.36]off the east coast of Africa. [00:28.13](MUSIC) [00:35.40]The weather was good [00:36.65]on the morning of April eighth. [00:38.87]One sailor described the sea [00:41.48]as being as smooth as glass. [00:44.06]The container ship,Maersk Alabama, [00:47.79]was sailing through the Gulf of Aden [00:50.42]to the port of Mombasa,Kenya, [00:52.44]on the east coast of Africa. [00:54.73]The American-operated ship [00:57.70]carried thousands of tons [01:00.14]of agricultural materials [01:02.02]for the World Food Program [01:04.64]and other aid organizations. [01:07.43]But,for days,a small boat [01:11.18]had been following the Maersk Alabama. [01:13.87]In it,four heavily armed Somali men [01:17.76]were watching and waiting. [01:20.37]Now,the pirates saw their chance. [01:23.66]They moved to board the ship. [01:26.83]Captain Richard Phillips sounded a warning [01:31.00]and the crew took positions [01:33.34]in several parts of the ship. [01:35.35]Soon the pirates had climbed on board. [01:40.00]Their goal: hijack the ship [01:43.56]and hold the crew hostage [01:45.78]until the ship's owners paid for their release. [01:49.63]One of the pirates pointed a gun [01:53.47]at Captain Phillips and demanded [01:55.73]that he order the crew to surrender. [01:58.41]But the crew avoided capture [02:01.81]by hiding in places like the engine room [02:05.21]for many tense hours. [02:07.73]As the pirates spread out [02:10.58]searching for hostages, [02:12.37]the crew was even able to capture [02:15.34]one of the Somalis. [02:17.15]Now the captain had something to negotiate with. [02:21.47]He offered the pirates a deal. [02:24.30]He suggested the pirates could escape [02:27.46]using one of the ship's lifeboats. [02:30.66]They could hold him [02:32.72]until the crew released the captured Somali. [02:36.88]Then,they were to let him go. [02:39.39]The pirates agreed. [02:41.75]The three Somalis climbed into the lifeboat [02:45.59]with the captain. [02:46.73]Then,the crew released the captured man. [02:50.64]But the pirates did not keep their word. [02:54.28]Once they were reunited with their partner, [02:57.64]they fled with their hostage. [03:00.48]Captain Phillips had saved his crew and ship [03:05.14]but at the cost of his freedom [03:07.79]and possibly his life. [03:10.37]The crew followed the lifeboat [03:14.19]holding Captain Phillips and his captors. [03:17.28]Soon they were joined by the U.S.S.Bainbridge, [03:21.56]a United States Navy warship. [03:24.56]The Somalis held Captain Phillips for five days. [03:29.55]He made an unsuccessful attempt to escape [03:33.80]by jumping into the ocean. [03:36.24]But he was recaptured. [03:38.61]The lifeboat ran out of fuel [03:41.81]and had to be pulled by the U.S.S.Bainbridge. [03:45.64]The situation grew increasingly tense [03:49.79]as more United States warships [03:52.65]entered the area. [03:54.12]The pirates threatened to kill their hostage [03:57.81]if they were attacked. [03:59.22]Then,shortly after sunset on April twelfth, [04:03.77]Navy special operations forces feared [04:08.34]that Captain Phillips' life [04:10.07]was in immediate danger. [04:12.21]With orders from President Obama [04:15.47]to act in such a situation, [04:18.05]they opened fire, [04:20.09]killing three Somalis. [04:22.46]The remaining pirate surrendered. [04:25.62]Federal officials have brought [04:29.09]Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse to New York City [04:33.56]to face trial. [04:35.23]He is the first person to be tried [04:37.85]on piracy charges in the United States [04:41.47]in more than one hundred years. [04:44.49](MUSIC) [05:07.84]East African pirates are a growing threat [05:11.10]to international shipping. [05:13.13]About twenty thousand ships [05:16.14]pass through the Gulf of Aden each year [05:19.19]on their way to the Suez Canal. [05:22.18]The International Maritime Bureau reports [05:26.11]there were one hundred eleven pirate attacks [05:29.85]in waters near the Somali coast last year. [05:34.07]That is almost double the number [05:37.41]from two thousand seven. [05:39.26]But already this year, [05:42.14]pirates have carried out [05:44.21]more than eighty-four attacks [05:46.81]in the waters of the Gulf of Aden [05:49.77]and off the Somali coast. [05:52.39]Piracy has a high economic price [05:56.42]for ship owners and operators. [05:59.25]The Congressional Research Service estimates [06:03.52]that pirates were paid [06:05.47]more than thirty million dollars [06:08.17]for the release of ships [06:10.27]and crews they held last year. [06:13.37]Other estimates are even higher. [06:17.05]A United Nations resolution [06:20.47]permits international naval forces [06:24.02]to fight piracy in Somali waters. [06:27.64]About twenty countries have sent warships [06:31.83]to the area to protect merchant ships. [06:35.85]Slowly,the international community [06:39.52]is working toward a legal process [06:43.29]to try piracy suspects [06:46.09]close to where they operate. [06:48.58]The U.N.Office on Drugs and Crime says [06:53.78]Kenya has agreed to be the first nation [06:58.10]in the area to try Somali piracy suspects. [07:03.13]In December,the East African nation [07:07.09]agreed to deploy police [07:09.71]on international warships [07:12.41]who would bring suspects to Kenya for trial. [07:16.71] [07:17.61]The U.N.crime agency is now seeking support [07:22.37]for the plan from the United States Congress. [07:26.14]Agency chief Antonio Maria Costa says [07:30.95]other nations in the area may join the effort. [07:36.09]But,he says,the plan's success [07:39.75]depends on international support. [07:42.98](MUSIC) [07:58.33]Piracy became a serious problem [08:00.67]off the coast of Somalia [08:02.34]after the collapse of the government [08:05.15]in nineteen ninety-one. [08:07.21]The country could not police its own waters. [08:11.37]Foreign fishing ships [08:14.10]began illegally catching huge amounts [08:17.47]of high-value tuna and shrimp in Somali waters. [08:22.02]One report estimates Somali fishermen [08:26.15]lost one hundred million dollars [08:28.42]to foreign fleets. [08:30.45]Somali officials say some fishermen [08:35.11]armed themselves and began demanding money [08:38.71]from fishing ships near the Somali coast [08:42.45]about ten to fifteen years ago. [08:45.43]Those first attempts [08:48.01]at demanding a "tax" of foreign ships [08:51.51]evolved into highly organized [08:54.31]hijacking operations. [08:56.09]There are reports [08:58.37]that pirates cooperate with each other [09:01.16]to seize ships. [09:03.04]Many Somali pirates are based [09:07.12]in the lawless ports of the Puntland area. [09:10.36]They use small boats with powerful motors [09:14.44]to chase down slower merchant ships. [09:17.79]The pirates have machine guns [09:20.93]and rocket-powered bombs. [09:23.19]They are also said to use global positioning [09:27.17]and communications devices. [09:29.50]Most attempts to hijack ships fail. [09:34.29]However,recent reports say [09:37.44]they currently hold about twenty ships [09:40.85]and about two hundred fifty hostages. [09:43.60]Last November, [09:45.99]Somali pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker [09:49.35]carrying two million containers of oil. [09:52.75]The Sirius Star is the biggest ship [09:57.00]ever hijacked. [09:58.50]The attack took place far from the coast [10:02.18]showing the pirates' ability [10:04.54]to carry out long distance raids. [10:07.22]In January, [10:09.42]the pirates claimed [10:11.48]that they released the Sirius Star and its crew [10:15.05]after three million dollars was paid. [10:18.35] [10:21.00]Piracy is not just a problem [10:23.68]in the western Indian Ocean. [10:25.99]There is a possibility of pirate attacks [10:29.78]wherever there is poverty,shipping traffic [10:34.01]and relatively little law enforcement. [10:37.74]The coast of Nigeria [10:40.26]has long been a high risk area. [10:43.19]Most of the attacks reported in Nigerian waters [10:47.89]are on ships linked to the oil industry. [10:53.12]Another area of increasing danger [10:56.56]is off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean. [10:59.90]Seven incidents were reported there [11:03.76]in the first three months of this year. [11:06.88]However,piracy had decreased [11:10.64]in the Straits of Malacca [11:13.09]and the eastern Indian Ocean [11:15.49]where it has traditionally been a problem. [11:18.82](MUSIC) [11:33.46]Pirates have probably existed [11:36.03]as long as valuable goods [11:38.27]have been transported by sea. [11:40.82]Pirates robbed ancient Greek and Roman ships. [11:45.24]From the fifteen hundreds [11:48.12]to the seventeen hundreds, [11:50.01]pirates from Britain attacked French [11:53.35]and Spanish ships carrying riches. [11:57.14]Some were known as "privateers." [11:59.93]They were given special letters [12:02.83]by the British government [12:04.78]to attack the ships of enemy nations. [12:07.74]But privateers did not work for the government. [12:11.64]Their support came from private investors [12:15.09]who shared in the captured riches. [12:17.72]Over two hundred years ago, [12:21.84]the United States struggled with piracy [12:25.13]in the Mediterranean Sea. [12:27.50]A group of small states [12:29.98]on the coast of North Africa [12:32.60]was seizing American ships [12:35.07]and holding their crews hostage. [12:38.01]The Barbary States, [12:40.41]as they were known, [12:41.78]demanded payment for the release of hostages [12:45.64]and safe passage of American ships. [12:49.66]President Thomas Jefferson refused to pay. [12:53.81]He sent the United States Navy [12:57.32]on its first foreign expedition [13:00.40]to punish the states of Morocco, [13:03.65]Tripoli,Tunis and Algiers. [13:07.74]The First Barbary War stopped piracy [13:12.42]against American ships for a time. [13:15.50]But it was not until eighteen fifteen [13:19.72]and the Second Barbary War that the power [13:23.76]of the Barbary pirates was broken. [13:26.83]Commodore William Bainbridge [13:29.96]was a hero of that war. [13:32.05]Today,the modern destroyer, [13:35.36]the U.S.S.Bainbridge, [13:37.54]honors the American naval officer [13:40.66]in name and in spirit. [13:43.68]The warship will forever be linked to [13:47.44]the dramatic rescue of Captain Richard Phillips [13:51.24]from Somali pirates. [13:53.36](MUSIC) [14:05.13]This program was written [14:06.80]and produced by Mario Ritter. [14:09.21]I'm Shirley Griffith. [14:10.98]And I'm Steve Ember. [14:13.06]You can find transcripts,MP3s [14:16.52]and podcasts of our reports at WWW.51VOA.COM. [14:23.43]Join us again next week [14:26.03]for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. [14:31.15]51VOA.COM