US Destroyer Chases Down Pirate Ship

Here's something you don't read about every day; the US Navy chasing down and boarding a pirate ship in international waters.

From CNN.com:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. Navy boarded an apparent pirate ship in the Indian Ocean and detained 26 men for questioning, the Navy said Sunday.

The 16 Indians and 10 Somali men were aboard a traditional dhow that was chased and seized Saturday by the guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

The dhow stopped fleeing after the Churchill twice fired warning shots during the chase, which ended 87 kilometers (54 miles) off the coast of Somalia, the Navy said. U.S. sailors boarded the dhow and seized a cache of small arms.

That's some crazy shit, right there.

The Navy is apparently patrolling the area in some sort of support role related to the Iraq war. They were lead into this encounter through reports of a Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier ship taking fire while passing through the area.

From the article, though, I kinda get the feeling that this type of shit happens pretty often. In fact, I think the only reason we don't hear more about pirates these days is because the government just ends up calling them "terrorists" most of the time.

Whatever, though. It's still pretty amusing.

Technorati tags: US Navy, Pirates, News and Politics