Most of you people are talking rubbish with Guns u cant win in Somalia only few days a go the pirates tried to hijack an American military ship what is needed is a global solution to the Somali problem without the Us being involved.

Saeed_Burco, London,

who behind this piracy? with out doubt the western encouraged because more than have dozens of their navies in Somali waters and their presence increased the piracy off somali waters. re-liberation war is going on in Somalia between occupiers(black christian) Ethopia&Uganda sponsered by America,west

abdul, london, uk

who is behind this piracy? with out doubt the west encouraged to hide attrocities going on in Mogadishu by black christian (ethopian &uganda) which the west in general and Ameraca in particulary sponsered financially and diplomaticaly . no media cover civilian massacered on daily basis.

abdul, london, uk

The usual amount of selfhate being displayed here. Blame anyone but the pirates themselves. The US ecomomic slump will require less American involvement and more by idle countries (hello Germany) and this would be a great time to start the new policy. It is a Greek ship, let them handle it.

Jerry, seattle, usa

Who ever you deal with now and get an agreement with,there will be another faction who will want a piece of the pie. It is too fuedal the best way to deal with piracy is to remove their means of putting to sea and restore law and order.The best way to do this is through the African nations

Chris, merthyr tydfil, UK

It should be mentioned what author lets ambiguity in his text. So he wrote "cargo of weapons, which include 33 Russian tanks". The tanks are Ukrainian.

yaro, Pyatigorsk, Russia

At last some sense. Tony Nazar, you couldn't be wiser if you tried. Lure them out and do them in!

leila, manchester, uk

I thought Pirates were only in medieval history and in movies. Like diseases which claimed to have been wiped out, Pirates are rearing their ugly head. Another ship with an Indian crew is similarly held. Any news on that?

Ravinder Jain, Mumbai, India

I'm sure none of us will actually mind should a torpedo miraculously find its way to the ship and duly explode..

Go ahead :)

Kazuki, Tokyo, Japan

Mike B, Toronto: You are quite right, sir.

I have wondered for YEARS why there are no Q-Ships operating in the South China Sea and more recently near Somalia.

Transporting arms especially without an armed escort?

The insurers ought to refuse payment for such lunacy!

Dennis, Portland OR, (The American Colonies)

Crew knew what they were carrying ... that makes them accomplices to the global arms trade. Pirates are a bunch of no-good extremists.

Rarely in the realm of international affairs does a situation with such a clean and straightforward solution present itself:

Just sink it and be done with it!

Frank, Perth, Australia

As the author clearly mentions - regarding Somalias priracy - [Quote] It was briefly stamped out by the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) which took control of the country in 2006 [End Quote].
The author should have commented on the bigotry of American AND Ethiopian forces in wiping-out the UIC!?

Abbas Dhami, London,

Dyke Vondale Davis, San Francisco, USA

There are no proven oil reserves in Somalia, nearly half of there GDP is made up from agriculture. None of which is controlled by America. Perhaps? Just maybe a load of tanks and ammunition is not good in the hands of extremists? Only a thought

Chris, Leeds, UK

alan, this practice was favourite pastime of england in times gone by. The american forces with ethiopian forces destroyed the first semblance of govt under the sciri under false pretences and they also kill there flouting all laws! lets talk to these people for peace to reign without u.s.a .

m arshad, rochdale, england

I like how the article slipped in 'southern Sudan' without much emphasis on it.
I guess China is the only country that's supposed to be blamed for the mess in Sudan.

John, San Francisco,

m.arshad, rochdale, england
They are stopping the ships in International waters, peanut, then killing people who get in their way and then holding innocent people hostage and demanding ransoms from the owners and insurers. Open your eyes man

Alan , Chelmsford, UK

I know how to stop these pirates. Make Dick Chaney in charge of the anti piracy operation. I think it might work. Go Dick

Jackson, NY, USA

I suspect an "accident" is going to take place in the next few hours... Along the lines of the Pirates accidentally blowing up the ship.

Better to lose a ship with a dozen or so hostages, then have these weapons land in the hands of The Shabaab.

Pick the lesser evil.

Zef, lost,

What! you want to shoot these people?
What about their human rights?
Where is Mrs Blair?
I'm sure Mrs Blair could get compensation for the trouble theses pirates have suffered and get them permission to live in the UK with full benefits.

Ian J, Ramsgate, UK

i have read that that the somalians are legally entitled to stop all ships within territorial waters of somalia legally so why is it called piracy? other countrys are looting their fish resources and minerals, they think they are protecting themselves possibly?

m.arshad, rochdale, england

The Decoy might work but your talking about expensive missions to grab a only a handful of the pirates. Its like using a flyswatter for gnats. They key might be vessel escorts and security forces & weapons aboard the actual shipping vessels.

erik, Miami, USA

The Allies in World War I used Q-Ships to lure U-Boats into range of their guns. A number of them took the bait too. Risky , but it worked.

The navies that are patrolling those waters today have to be merciless against these stateless criminals. The message will get out, "Piracy doesn't pay!"

Mike B., Toronto, Canada

Team America to save the day!!!

Mr Saxondale, stevenage,

The warships surrounding the hijacked Ukrainian freighter are holding it until the Russian ship arrives. They'll prevent off loading the cargo, but they will let Russia control or have a say in how the situation is handled. It is a Russian citizen that is dead, and Russia has ties to the ship.

Kathleen, Oklahoma City, USA

Oddly, these vulnerable ships can see pirates approaching but are denied permission to blow them out of the water. They cannot properly defend themselves. How insane is that? Their countries are painfully aware of the dangers - what ARE they waiting for?

Leo Schmidt, Milwaukee WI, USA

Yes Curly, because 'leadership' in Afghanistan and Iraq has solved the al-qaeda problem... not to mention North Korea and Iran. What is needed is a long term solution built on education, not short term guns being drawn.

Farrukh, Woking,

Lol Times Online forgot to mention Putland govt was never taken over by Islamic Courts. Thats where most piracy is!

Mo, Manchester, England

Lubna,they didn't know,the pirates were surprised at the haul.They simply attacked a ship passing by.Amado,its well known the US has destroyers operating in the area to combat piracy,what unknown involvement are you referring to?Dyke,your comment makes no sense whatsoever.Tony I agree with you.

Ian, Austin TX, USA

I'd think that occupying these guys home villages and taking their families hostage would be a good place to start.

We are going to have to play by different rules, to deal with these people.


.

Josh Geller, Hayfork, California, USA

Amado - Kenya uses military equipment from a range of sources - UK, USA, France, Germany, and the Ukraine. They currently have over 100 T-72s in their inventory, all from Ukrainian manufacturers. The only thing that this hijacking exposed was that the pirates have become increasingly dangerous

Len Peruski, Chicago, USA

The question is how did they know about this particular ship.
Seems like intelligence from western nations is involved.
This is more than simple piracy

Lubna, Cairo, Egypt

This ship exposed a lot of unknown US involvement in African conflicts. The arms were destined to south Sudan not to Kenya, Kenya does not use Russian made military hardwares and since its independent kenya was relying on UK equipment. Lot to be surfaced in the next few days.

Amado, sydney, australia

The intervention into Somilia by America and other external elements for questionable resource extration and control or for the socalled "War on Terror" against Islamic Extremist or Extremism is becoming unclear. Maybe they are mutually connected, yet I am inclined think Oil Futures.

Dyke Vondale Davis, San Francisco, USA

It's time to put an end to Indian Ocean piracy. The best way is heavily armed decoy ships to lure the pirates in, perhaps even allow them to board and then face them with well armed and well trained special forces. None should be permitted to leave the vessel and return to Somalia.

Tony Nazar, Wilton, Maine, USA

If the forces just sit there and do nothing Islamist extremists will just get stronger. We need some leadership from someone in this!

Curly, Sherman, USA