By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Despite international outrage at the persistence of piracy in the waters off Somalia, there appears to be no consensus yet on how to deal with the problem.
The varying approaches were underscored this week when a South Korea shipping company decided to pay the ransom that one band of pirates had demanded in exchange for freeing a ship on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a stalemate remains in the most prominent hijacking, in which Somali pirates took over a Ukranian ship carrying Russian-built tanks and other weapons.
U.S. and Russian warships have those pirates cornered, but the forces have yet to take action. The pirates had warned they would blow up the ship unless a ransom is paid, but have yet to follow through on the threat.
The case of a hijacked Panama-flagged cargo ship, on the other hand, ended Tuesday in a violent resolution when soldiers from a semiautonomous region of Somalia moved in.
"When we reached where the pirates had anchored their ship they started firing at us and hit our ship," Operation Commander Abdirahshid Abdirahin Ismail said, according to an Associated Press translation.
One soldier died and another was wounded, but the forces succeeded in taking the ship when the 10 pirates ran out of ammunition and surrendered.
Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships this year off the Horn of Africa, but the Ukrainian ship has drawn intense interest because of its military cargo.
International pressure on the pirates is growing. NATO is sending seven ships to the treacherous waters in which the ship is being held.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/no-consensus-on-how-to-solve-somali-pirate-problem