Pirates seize another cargo ship off Somalia

After lying low for a little while, the pirates off the coast of Somalia are at it again, this time grabbing a Greek-owned, Maltese-flagged cargo ship called the Saldanha, with 22 crewmembers onboard. The seizure of the Saldanha comes after a half-dozen reported unsuccessful pirate attacks in the past week alone.

The Somali pirates have only captured a handful of ships since the start of the year, something the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet was quick to claim credit for, though many familiar with piracy off the coast of Africa say that bad weather is the more likely explanation - the pirates use small boats for most of their attacks, craft not suited for sailing in rough seas.

Meanwhile a Russian frigate operating off the coast of Somalia turned ten suspected pirates they’ve captured over to authorities in Yemen. And that illustrates another problem with the Somali pirates - what to do when you catch them. Somalia right now doesn't have a functioning government or legal system, so the Somalis can't prosecute the pirates once they’re caught. Many of the pirates turned over to officials in Somalia in the past year have wound up back at sea looking for more ships to hijack. The US Navy signed an agreement with the government in neighboring Kenya for that country to prosecute pirates caught by the US forces, but so far what to do with the pirates once caught is a hodge-podge of agreements and ideas, which again makes piracy attractive for sailors an fishermen living along the Somali coast - even if they’re caught there's little chance of them being punished, while there are few, if any, ways to legally earn a living open to them.

Finally, Reuters has published this handy “factbox” about the Somali pirates, listing some of the ships they’re still holding and how much they’ve earned from piracy.