Pirates continue their "work" off Somalia, attacking (unsuccessfully) another US ship. But I have to ask, as I've asked before, do they know the identity of the vessels they are attacking, or is it a question of "pot luck"? Given that some vessels are likely to belong to countries which are better protected, and which will fight back, while others belong to shipping companies that are prepared to pay big ransoms, the choice of boat shouldn't be entirely random. What's more the Somali pirates appear to operate in small, independent groups, free of any central control - a concept which is anathema in Somalia.
But is it possible that we are applying some blinkered thinking here? The pirates are getting better organized, and they may not be just marine free-booters going out to sea each day to see what they can catch. Not wishing to seem like a conspiracy theorist, it is possible that the pirates are getting advance information about vessels approaching the Somali coast and Gulf Aden, allowing them an element of discretion and choice as to which vessels to target.
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