Pirates ahoy!!!

More pirate news.

These fellas just don't want to make friends with anyone. Last month some adventurous pirates hijacked an Iranian merchant vessel, the MV Iran Denayat and it's "mysterious cargo".

From the article:

"The MV Iran Deyanat is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) - a state-owned company run by the Iranian military that was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on September 10, shortly after the ship's hijacking."

The "minerals and industrial" products it's carrying are apparently making the pirates who inspected the cargo develop strange health issues, such as skin burns, loss of hair and a number of them have died. It is widely believed that the ship is carrying weapons for the Islamic insurgents in Eritrea.

Question: Why isn't the mostly Iranian crew suffering from the same problems?

It looks like that the Iranian government has ponied up some money to facilitate the release of the ship and crew, however the Iranian press has claimed that the US government has offered much more for the ship. The Somali official involved in the negotiations with the pirates has said: ""I can say the ship is of interest to a lot of people, including Puntland."

The Iranians have said they can't send help as the waters are being patrolled by the multinational Combined Taskforce 150 with elements of the US Navy's Fifth fleet.

So the pirates have become victims of their own success. This year near the Gulf of Aden, there has already been two rescues undertaken by French commandos, with one of the missions chasing and shooting the pirates down on land. There are currently ships from "Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States" (source: wikipedia) and now we have a Russian missile frigate steaming her way there.

The Gulf of Aden and the pirate port (aaaar) of Eyl

It's worth noting that every country has an interest in stopping piracy. The reasons for the current surge in piracy around the Horn of Africa are many, however one critical factor is that Somalia has not had a functional government for abour 17years.

I wonder how long ye pirates will last when all countries that warships in the area decide to take the gloves off?