Security

CORFU, Greece (AP) — NATO has replaced the flotilla conducting anti-piracy patrols off Somalia for the past three months with a new force that will continue the operation "indefinitely," a spokesman said Monday. 

The increase in piracy off Somalia and a ten-fold hike in insurance premiums have sent the cost of sending ships through the Gulf of Aden soaring.

The hearings were held on May 20, 2009 in response to the attacks on the Maersk Alabama and Liberty Sun under the chairmanship of Congressman Elijah Cummings. Your editors thought the following quote summed up the situation:

During recent congressional hearings, U.S. officials call for ship owner/operators to provide for their own security when transiting dangerous waters.

Maritime academies have been in the news lately as governments and shipping companies decide how best to deal with piracy. But these schools, including Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, are about much more than training ship captains.
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A member of the crew on the U.S.-flagged ship hijacked by African pirates sued the owner and another company Monday, accusing them of knowingly putting sailors in danger.