Pirates are alive and well in 2008. You’ve probably heard about the Somali pirates who’ve been hijacking boats in the Gulf of Aden, including a Ukrainian tanker loaded up with weapons, tanks, and ammunition. Yesterday, an American cruise ship was cruising between Somalia and Yemen when pirates attempted to hijack the boat. Luckily, the captain gunned the engines and was able to escape without harm to the boat or any passengers.

Considering that 100 ships have been attacked and 40 have been hijacked, why the hell was an American cruise ship just sailing along in the Gulf of Aden? The AP reports that “some of the world’s leading cruise companies said Tuesday they are considering changing their itineraries to avoid going near the coast of Somalia following news of the weekend attack.” Uh, yeah, I would hope so.

Anyway, “the U.N. Security Council extended for another year its authorization for countries to enter Somalia’s territorial waters, with advance notice, and use ‘all necessary means’ to stop piracy and armed robbery at sea.” This could make for some crazy hijinks on the high seas.

Photo courtesy of Flick user Earl-What I Saw 2.0. Used under the Creative Commons license.