BBC looking for answers to help Obama: - How can pirates be stopped? ( Have Your Say)

BBC ^ | Thursday, 9 April, 2009, 07:43 GMT 08:43 UK | BBC readers

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

How can pirates be stopped?

A second US-owned vessel with 16 on board is hijacked, reports say, as a standoff continues over a US captain taken hostage. How can the pirates be defeated?

The Somali pirates holding US Captain Richard Phillips hostage have warned that the use of force to rescue him could result in "disaster".

The US seaman was taken hostage on Wednesday after pirates hijacked his ship, the Maersk Alabama, as it sailed towards the Kenyan port of Mombasa carrying food aid.

Pirate attacks have been increasing rapidly in recent years - more than 130 incidents were reported in 2008, which has cost the world an estimated $60 - 70m.

How can one of the world's most important shipping lanes be protected? What's the long-term solution to the problem?

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[wagglebee]

I have a hard time understanding how the US Navy can have such a difficult time dealing with a handful of pirates on a small boat. It’s not as if they can go anywhere.

We need to do whatever is necessary to get Phillips back (and we need to demand that the exchange be done at sea) and then kill these bastards.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Well it does seem the pirates are “going somewhere.” Currents are carrying the boat towards the coast of Africa. The Navy isn’t daring to get close enough to touch the boat, so it’s not like they can get a ship in between.

[wagglebee]

I would think that we could get SEALs under the boat and deal with it that way.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Yeah, just anchor it with a cable attached to the bottom somehow.

[wagglebee]

You know, from everything I’ve seen, I do not believe that these pirates have any interest in sacrificing their own lives. They need to be made to understand that the United States of America WILL NOT put up with their BS.