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BY ALLIE SPILLYARDS

ANCHOR ALEX ROZIER

You're watching multisource world news analysis from Newsy

Just days after a Somali pirate was sentenced by a New York court  for the 2009 hijacking of a U.S. cargo ship, 4 Americans were taken hostage off the coast of Oman. The yacht belongs to a California couple who have been sailing as part of an 8 to 10 year voyage. Jean and Scott Adam and 2 others believed to be Phyllis Mackay and Bob Riggle, both from Seattle are in custody of the pirates.

REPORTER: “Experts say detecting and avoiding pirates in the region can be impossible.”

ROGER HAWKES: “There’s a saying in the region that every pirate’s a fisherman and every fisherman’s a pirate. So until they actually commit the act or attempt to commit the act, they have just as much right to be out in those water’s as anyone else.”

But NBC says, while the pirates may be difficult to identify, the couple knew they were taking a risk.

“We got an email from them about a week ago and they said they were about to take off into where it was dangerous there wouldn’t be any radio contact.”

REPORTER: “No more radio contact because they didn’t want the bands of pirates off the Somali coast to know their location.”

A blogger for the Front page is more concerned with the bigger picture. He asks why piracy hasn’t been stopped.

“In 1801 President Thomas Jefferson finally had enough, refused the pirates demands for money and sent a group of frigates to Tripoli to put an end pirating once and for all. Seems like we had our priorities correct in 1801, the question is why in 2011 won’t weak-as-water Obama follow Jefferson’s example?”

According to CNN’s report, his inquiry might not be entirely fair. It’s been reported that U.S. officials are mulling over their plan of action.

“What the navy will be doing, the US navy and others in the coalition forces there potentially trying to block that yacht from getting towards land because once hostages hit the land there’s very little that can be done except for the families to wait and hear from the pirates and start negotiating.”

And Jack Rackliffe tells the Today Show the U.S. has reason to fear the pirates will make landfall.

JACK RACKLIFFE: “They’ll probably move them on land, also because they’ll fear some rescue attempt. So they’ll probably try to separate them out maybe keep them separate and also limit their ability to launch rescue operation.”

But Fox News asks, could U.S actions be to blame?

“Earlier this week pirates in Somalia said they would target Americans in retaliation to the sentencing.”

Pirate attacks have gradually been on the rise. According to CTV, "Somali pirates are believed to currently be holding 30 ships and more than 660 hostages. “

 

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