Pirates are claiming that an $8 million ransom has been arranged for the return of MV Faina, a ship hijacked off Somalia while carrying 33 Ukrainian T-72 tanks and a collection of other weapons. I'm skeptical of an accord on two levels. First, I simply don't think it's a good idea to pay the pirates to give up the ship; in such a high profile case, this will have the inevitable effect of making pirates believe that they can get away with anything. It would be better to take the risk of storming the ship and arresting or shooting the pirates, particularly with the credibility of the United States Navy on the line.
If the USN is operating off Somalia for no purpose other than to moderate pirate ransom demands, then we have a serious problem. At the same time, I'm not sure that I would take any ransom agreements at face value. Just because the pirates think they're going to get a ransom doesn't mean they actually will; the French have, in two recent cases, used the promise of ransoms to lure pirates away from ships and arrest them. This, I think, would be the best outcome of the MV Faina case. Future pirates might not fall for the same trick, but the point is to convey that a life of piracy doesn't pay.
--Robert Farley
