It seems as though the American taxpayer has a name to add to its shrinking Christmas card list – the crew of the Maersk Alabama.
Crew members on board the ship, laden with humanitarian provisions from USAID and other charitable institutions, outsmarted and outmuscled a group of Somali pirates, who were attempting to hijack the ship, and take the 20 man crew hostage. Despite the crew's lack of weaponry, they still managed to foil the pirates, who were armed (or should I say arrrrmed) with AK-47s.
The last thing the credit-crunch-crippled federal government needs is to have to either pay a king's ransom for the ship and its crew, or send a team of Marines to the ship to solve the problem, like the French had to do. Though the captain of the ship, Richard Phillips, sadly remains a hostage, the rest of the crew is currently continuing with the cargo to the port of Mombasa, Kenya, where it will be sent to hungry people throughout Eastern Africa.
According to the international development agency, USAID-provided food on board the Maersk Alabama alone is valued at about $5.3 million. On top of that, the pirates could have made off with more plunder, such as trying to charge for the safety of the rest of the crew and the ship itself. All parties involved that aren't pirates owe a debt of gratitude to the crew for their heroic act of defiance, particularly Captain Phillips, who seems to have offered himself as the sole hostage in exchange for safe passage of the other crew members.
The team on board, who had prepared for such an event, managed to outwit the pirates, first by taking evasive action, which bought them time. After the hijackers managed to board the ship, the crew then hid, which frustrated the pirates. Finally one of the Kalashnikov carrying pirates was overpowered and disarmed by the men, who proceeded to take back the ship.
The four pirates then took Captain Phillips and escaped on a lifeboat, where they currently remain, under the surveillance of the U.S. navy in the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, the crew is back on course to deliver the aid, which, according to USAID, contains some 8,150 metric tons of vegetable oil, wheat, dehydrated vegetables, a corn soy blend and dehydrated vegetables courtesy of the American taxpayer. The food is destined for hungry people in Kenya, Uganda, and, ironically, Somalia.
Despite more controversial aspects of food aid, no one in their right mind would want to see a ship full of humanitarian assistance and it's crew hijacked. And if they do, take their rum and let them walk the plank. But even effective aid is unlikely to stop Somali pirates from operating off the Horn of Africa and in the Indian Ocean. Somalia, devoid of any significant centralized government, has been in turmoil for years. Piracy, which was used by Somalis initially to stop illegal fishing off of its coasts, has turned into a lucrative industry.
Hopefully, the State Department and USAID will be asking some important questions after this latest incident. Is our current strategy towards Somalia viable for creating long term stability? Are there any stabilizing political figures in Somalia we can support to bring peace to the country? Can we hire pirates to prevent other pirates from attaching ships, in a model similar to how bush meat hunters were employed by the national park services in Africa to protect against poachers? And what role, if any, has Johnny Depp played in the pirates' rise to prominence?
USAID currently delivers food aid to three million Somalis, or roughly a third of the country, and provided around $319 million in assistance in 2008 alone.