Somali pirates

The ability of the Kenyan government to protect tourists is called into question after a second kidnapping in a month’s time.

Somali pirates have freed a Greek-owned bulk carrier held off the Horn of Africa coast for seven months after a multi-million dollar ransom was air-dropped to secure its release, a pirate source and local maritime expert said on Friday.

Scientists are using the U.S. and Australian navies to fight off threats from Somali pirates.

In a major twist, Cargo ship MV Suez, released by Somali pirates on Monday, was attacked by pirates again on Wednesday, as reported by crew members.

The early raid on Monday morning that killed world’s most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden carried out by US navy Seals has put them in a spotlight.

Madagascar has detained a dozen suspected Somali pirates after a vessel they hijacked off Tanzania in November ran out of fuel and supplies, a maritime official from the Indian Ocean island said.

Pirates shot dead four American hostages on a yacht they had seized in the Arabian Sea, and a firefight left two pirates dead and 13 captured, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

Two Iranian warships planned to sail through the Suez canal en route to Syria on Wednesday, Israel said, calling it a provocation by the Islamic Republic.

Special Forces from South Korea stormed a cargo ship taken over by pirates in the Arabian Sea and rescued the 21-member crew. The rescue attempt occurred a week after the cargo ship, Samho Jewelry, was hijacked by Somali pirates. The ship had eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 people from Myanmar and was carrying chemicals from the UAE towards Sri Lanka.

Ships plying the waters where piracy is a danger may soon have a non-lethal laser weapon to defend themselves with.

A British couple taken hostage by the Somali pirates last year was released on Sunday. Reports suggest that the couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, paid a ransom amount of $300,000 to their captors. The pirates reportedly handed them over to officials in Adado, a central Somali town near the Ethiopian border.