Somali pirates seize Danish-owned ship: US Navy

[WorldAHope]

I will repeat a famous American President who, when the west's shipping was being plundered by Pirates along the Barbary Coast, uttered the now famous battle cry:

'NO TRIBUTE TO PIRATES!!!


.....Just before he sent the Marines in there to kick some pirate ass, kill the rest and declare the peace in store. It sure made us happy back then...and if we had a president with balls, he'd do the right thing and we'd be happy today!


RWC

Can you provide some documentary proof of when that "battle cry" was "uttered" and by whom ?
Look into how much tribute the US did pay to Tripoli before a military expedition was formed.
Quit making stuff up.
This piracy problem has been going on for years, around the horn of Africa and around Singapore.
Why did Bush43 never send in the Marines to attack these pirates ? No balls ?
You have no idea about what goes on in the real world, do you ?

 

[gezztoo]

Where are the Danish Vikings that would crush these pirates like an egg? I think it is time for the US Navy Seals to solve this dilema by resurfacing near the pirates in question and turning the pirates into shark bait.

That would not be an appropriate mission for Special Ops. Too many people, too many towns, too large an area. Pirates come from all along the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. It is a lot of coastline to cover with naval vessels, much less invade.
Remember. We already did go into Somalia.
If any military action is taken, and I think the situation calls for doing something to end this problem, it needs to be an international effort, not just one country.
The US is not the police of the world.

I love to read the posts of keyboard warriors with their Rambo VII shoot 'em up mindset rattling their cyber spears, getting all sexually excited at lurid thoughts of unleashing another round of shock and awe upon a backward nation. The screams of villagers as the bombs land, the "cool" sound of explosions, the blood and body parts everywhere. You guys got hardons thinking of that.
Makes me so glad that the half crocked warmongering twerps are confined to their chairs and have no influence on anything anywhere.
Calling for indiscriminate carpet bombing and tactical nuclear strikes. Come off it.
Those are not even close to being good options, and everybody knows that.
Except stupid kids and wastecase armchair commandos.

I love to read the posts of armchair wimp do gooders...pleading for "an international effort " to do something. The international community has not the will nor the capability to do anything...stop dreaming.

 

[aka520]

4 pirates...four snipers...problem solved.

Meanwhile I have a shipment of flowers ready to go for Worldahope...courtesy of Obummer's Flower Shoppe.

I can go one better gezz. Give pirates x amount of time to surrender. Announce to pirates, if one hostage is harmed all pirates will be shot. Along with killing all the pirates, we will go to their homes and kill their wives and children, their mother and father, and all blood relatives. Harsh yes, but very effective. It would only require one or two times. No more pirates.
gb

 

[WorldAHope]

4 pirates...four snipers...problem solved.

Meanwhile I have a shipment of flowers ready to go for Worldahope...courtesy of Obummer's Flower Shoppe.

Taking out 4 pirates won't need 4 trained snipers. One trained agent, up close and personal, or from a a distance. But those are only 4 lowly pirates. There are thousands in that trade.
You want to take out the pirates, you have to go after their lairs, take away their their vessels.
And get the shipping firms and cargo owners to stop paying ransom.
And make it mandatory that cargo vessels transitting the area have security staff and are adequately armed.
Are you part of the Armchair Commando platoon ? All big talk. No knowledge at all about what you say, but that doesn't stop you.
Read this series by a BBC reporter who was embedded on a ship on patrol there.
It's not rightwing radio or FOX news, but it won't give hives.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali pirate patrol: Day one

 

[WorldAHope]

4 pirates...four snipers...problem solved.

Meanwhile I have a shipment of flowers ready to go for Worldahope...courtesy of Obummer's Flower Shoppe.

I can go one better gezz. Give pirates x amount of time to surrender. Announce to pirates, if one hostage is harmed all pirates will be shot. Along with killing all the pirates, we will go to their homes and kill their wives and children, their mother and father, and all blood relatives. Harsh yes, but very effective. It would only require one or two times. No more pirates.
gb

Another tough guy. Which unit would you suggest be sent in to kill all the women and children ?
You want them to film the bloodbath so you and your family can buy the DVD and watch it while you eat popcorn ? And how would you like to break the news to the family of the hostage that dies ?
Idiot. Go back to playing with your John Wayne Gacy blowup doll.

 

[catzmeow]

I love to read the posts of keyboard warriors with their Rambo VII shoot 'em up mindset rattling their cyber spears, getting all sexually excited at lurid thoughts of unleashing another round of shock and awe upon a backward nation. The screams of villagers as the bombs land, the "cool" sound of explosions, the blood and body parts everywhere. You guys got hardons thinking of that.
Makes me so glad that the half crocked warmongering twerps are confined to their chairs and have no influence on anything anywhere.
Calling for indiscriminate carpet bombing and tactical nuclear strikes. Come off it.
Those are not even close to being good options, and everybody knows that.
Except stupid kids and wastecase armchair commandos.

So, how would you handle it dear? A simple cash payment? Please, spill your knowledge on us. I've yet to see any substantive ideas from you.

 

[WorldAHope]

Where are the Danish Vikings that would crush these pirates like an egg? I think it is time for the US Navy Seals to solve this dilema by resurfacing near the pirates in question and turning the pirates into shark bait.

That would not be an appropriate mission for Special Ops. Too many people, too many towns, too large an area. Pirates come from all along the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. It is a lot of coastline to cover with naval vessels, much less invade.
Remember. We already did go into Somalia.
If any military action is taken, and I think the situation calls for doing something to end this problem, it needs to be an international effort, not just one country.
The US is not the police of the world.

I love to read the posts of keyboard warriors with their Rambo VII shoot 'em up mindset rattling their cyber spears, getting all sexually excited at lurid thoughts of unleashing another round of shock and awe upon a backward nation. The screams of villagers as the bombs land, the "cool" sound of explosions, the blood and body parts everywhere. You guys got hardons thinking of that.
Makes me so glad that the half crocked warmongering twerps are confined to their chairs and have no influence on anything anywhere.
Calling for indiscriminate carpet bombing and tactical nuclear strikes. Come off it.
Those are not even close to being good options, and everybody knows that.
Except stupid kids and wastecase armchair commandos.

I love to read the posts of armchair wimp do gooders...pleading for "an international effort " to do something. The international community has not the will nor the capability to do anything...stop dreaming.

It already is an international effort. Naval vessels from many nations have been patrolling the area for years. Where have you been ? You just wake up to this issue 2 days ago, when news penetrated your hearing aid that Americans were crewing a vessel that was attacked ?
Since this is a very busy and vital shipping lane, to and from the Suez Canal and Persian Gulf and along the African coast, the international community needs to do something, and soon.
If that decision is "Send in the US navy" than fine. The Brits and the Chinese and the Russians and the French and the Indians all sent ships to patrol.
Who's going to pay for a bigger expedition ? All the whining about a few million dollars for programs here at home, but a sizable naval mission and ground effort would cost a lot.
I say let's do something that isn't stupid. What you are tossing out is pure stupid talk.
You have no idea what is involved in planning and executing a military mission.
That much is clear.

 

[WorldAHope]

I love to read the posts of keyboard warriors with their Rambo VII shoot 'em up mindset rattling their cyber spears, getting all sexually excited at lurid thoughts of unleashing another round of shock and awe upon a backward nation. The screams of villagers as the bombs land, the "cool" sound of explosions, the blood and body parts everywhere. You guys got hardons thinking of that.
Makes me so glad that the half crocked warmongering twerps are confined to their chairs and have no influence on anything anywhere.
Calling for indiscriminate carpet bombing and tactical nuclear strikes. Come off it.
Those are not even close to being good options, and everybody knows that.
Except stupid kids and wastecase armchair commandos.

So, how would you handle it dear? A simple cash payment? Please, spill your knowledge on us. I've yet to see any substantive ideas from you.

The standoff : that is in the hands of the people on scene, negotiating. Let them do their jobs. MAERSK will pay a ransom to avoid bloodshed. It has been their policy. The families of hostages also would prefer their loved ones to come home alive, which I'm sure you could understand.

As far as putting and end to piracy in the area, I popped off a couple ideas already in this thread.
Stop paying ransoms. Arm the ships. Go after the pirates ships and hiding places with surgical missions. Not wipe out villages and civilians with carpet bombing and nuclear warheads.
That sort of talk just shows off ignorance and lack of comprehension.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali pirate patrol: Day one

 

[catzmeow]

The standoff : that is in the hands of the people on scene, negotiating. Let them do their jobs. MAERSK will pay a ransom to avoid bloodshed. It has been their policy. The families of hostages also would prefer their loved ones to come home alive, which I'm sure you could understand.

What has been the longterm effect of negotiating ransoms for pirate hostages? Has it increased or decreased piracy?

 

[DiveCon]

4 pirates...four snipers...problem solved.

Meanwhile I have a shipment of flowers ready to go for Worldahope...courtesy of Obummer's Flower Shoppe.

Taking out 4 pirates won't need 4 trained snipers. One trained agent, up close and personal, or from a a distance. But those are only 4 lowly pirates. There are thousands in that trade.
You want to take out the pirates, you have to go after their lairs, take away their their vessels.
And get the shipping firms and cargo owners to stop paying ransom.
And make it mandatory that cargo vessels transitting the area have security staff and are adequately armed.
Are you part of the Armchair Commando platoon ? All big talk. No knowledge at all about what you say, but that doesn't stop you.
Read this series by a BBC reporter who was embedded on a ship on patrol there.
It's not rightwing radio or FOX news, but it won't give hives.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali pirate patrol: Day one

you would need 4 if you want to take them all out at the same time, so none of them have an opportunity to harm the hostage


clearly you dont think in any kind of tactical terms

 

[Grismonda]

DUBAI (AFP) — Somali pirates seized a Danish-owned and US-flagged ship off Somalia on Wednesday with 20 American crew on board, the US Navy and the shipowner said, in the sixth maritime hijacking in five days.

"A US-flagged Danish-owned ship was attacked at around 7:30 local time this morning, 240 nautical miles southeast of the Somali town of Eyl," Lieutenant Nathan Schaeffer, a spokesman for the navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet told AFP."

Maersk shipping line said the container vessel Maersk Alabama, belonging to the US subsidiary of Maersk, "was attacked by pirates and presumed hijacked" at around 0500 GMT.

"The US-flagged vessel has a crew of 20 US nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line, Limited in the US," a statement added.

The vessel was en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa when it was attacked, Maersk said. The 155-metre-long (511-foot) vessel is carrying cereals and food supplies destined for, among others, the United Nations.

MORE

Another problem for Obie to deal with.

This is not a new problem.... Kidnapping is hardly a new problem. This is also the problem of the business and shipping company. Each has to hire their own private security firm...such as Blackwater. The US government can not get involved because a country is NOT attacking our citizens... Only private citizens of that FUBAR place known as Somalia are pirating.

 

[Amanda]

Where are the Danish Vikings that would crush these pirates like an egg? I think it is time for the US Navy Seals to solve this dilema by resurfacing near the pirates in question and turning the pirates into shark bait.

That would not be an appropriate mission for Special Ops. Too many people, too many towns, too large an area. Pirates come from all along the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. It is a lot of coastline to cover with naval vessels, much less invade.
Remember. We already did go into Somalia.
If any military action is taken, and I think the situation calls for doing something to end this problem, it needs to be an international effort, not just one country.
The US is not the police of the world.

I love to read the posts of keyboard warriors with their Rambo VII shoot 'em up mindset rattling their cyber spears, getting all sexually excited at lurid thoughts of unleashing another round of shock and awe upon a backward nation. The screams of villagers as the bombs land, the "cool" sound of explosions, the blood and body parts everywhere. You guys got hardons thinking of that.
Makes me so glad that the half crocked warmongering twerps are confined to their chairs and have no influence on anything anywhere.
Calling for indiscriminate carpet bombing and tactical nuclear strikes. Come off it.
Those are not even close to being good options, and everybody knows that.
Except stupid kids and wastecase armchair commandos.

I love to read the posts of armchair wimp do gooders...pleading for "an international effort " to do something. The international community has not the will nor the capability to do anything...stop dreaming.

I agree... WE do not need an international effort.

Where I grew up family and friends took care of each other, taking government help was all but unheard of. There was no need with the kind of bond we had.

In this situation this "family" of ours can take care of things, we don't need the international community to come give it's nod of approval. Now if our friends the Brits or Israelis want to come over and help I'm sure we'd welcome them warmly.

 

[catzmeow]

clearly you dont think in any kind of tactical terms

What???!!! It appears as if you are suggesting that WorldHope, armchair general extraordinaire, has no actual tactical experience.

SHOCKERS.

Grismonda raises a good point. I wonder what blackwater forces would have done in this situation. Maybe more shipping companies should hire them.

 

[aka520]

4 pirates...four snipers...problem solved.

Meanwhile I have a shipment of flowers ready to go for Worldahope...courtesy of Obummer's Flower Shoppe.

I can go one better gezz. Give pirates x amount of time to surrender. Announce to pirates, if one hostage is harmed all pirates will be shot. Along with killing all the pirates, we will go to their homes and kill their wives and children, their mother and father, and all blood relatives. Harsh yes, but very effective. It would only require one or two times. No more pirates.
gb

Another tough guy. Which unit would you suggest be sent in to kill all the women and children ?
You want them to film the bloodbath so you and your family can buy the DVD and watch it while you eat popcorn ? And how would you like to break the news to the family of the hostage that dies ?
Idiot. Go back to playing with your John Wayne Gacy blowup doll.

I said nothing about video taping anything. That's your sick weirdo interpretation. You probably get off on watching these Islamo thugs saw off someones head. Please note, I did say harsh but extremely effective. However, you seem to want this to go on and on. You probably feel we should apologize to them and offer them money. You also no doubt, would have been in favor of invading Japan with thousands of American lives lost, as opposed to dropping two very lethal bombs.
gb

 

[WorldAHope]

The standoff : that is in the hands of the people on scene, negotiating. Let them do their jobs. MAERSK will pay a ransom to avoid bloodshed. It has been their policy. The families of hostages also would prefer their loved ones to come home alive, which I'm sure you could understand.

What has been the longterm effect of negotiating ransoms for pirate hostages? Has it increased or decreased piracy?

Paying ransoms has paid the pirates, rewarded bad behavior. Increased incentive to be pirates. BUT, the ship owners are the ones who have the policy to avoid blood and death and loss of cargo by paying ransoms, not the decision of military or countries.

The current standoff is 4 Somali pirates holding a hostage 400 miles from land. They are in a small boat, a lifeboat from the Alabama. The lifeboat is covered, so sailors from teh navy ships cannot get a clear shot at anyone aboard the boat. Plus, firing with accuracy from the deck of a warship with a narrow beam that is maintaining station in a rolling sea is nearly impossible. NOT AN OPTION. Guns are on deck, however.
Even if teh hostage dies, the navy wants these pirates taken alive, to get information to help future anti-pirate operations.

The one and only goal is to get the hostage out alive, unhurt. Period. The FBI negotiaters and the navy are Not, repeat Not going to use this standoff make some useless macho political statement or to make examples of the pirates, especially if it costs that hostage's life.
Then there will be a decision, if it hasn't already been made, how to deal with these 4 and their home base, and other pirates, after that.

U.S. negotiators try to persuade pirates to free captain - CNN.com

And this is part of an AP release from 1:08 pm EST.
"We're deeply concerned and we're following it very closely," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "More generally, the world must come together to end the scourge of piracy."

The pirate-hostage drama was the first of its kind in modern history involving a U.S. crew.

"We have watched with alarm the increasing threat of piracy," said Denis McDonough, a senior foreign policy adviser at the White House. "The administration has an intense interest in the security of navigation."

The Bainbridge was among several U.S. ships, including the cruiser USS Gettysburg, that had been patrolling in the region. But they were about 345 miles and several hours away when the Maersk Alabama was seized, officials said.

The Obama administration has so far done no better than its predecessor to thwart the growing threat of piracy. Since January, pirates have staged 66 attacks, and they are still holding 14 ships and 260 crew members as hostages, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a watchdog group based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

There is too much area to cover and too many commercial vessels to protect for full-time patrols or escorts. U.S. legal authority is limited, even in the case of American hostages and a cargo of donated American food. And the pirates, emboldened by fat ransoms, have little reason to fear being caught.

"The military component here is always going to be marginal," said Peter Chalk, an expert on maritime national security at the private Rand Corp.

According to the Navy, it would take 61 ships to control the shipping route in the Gulf of Aden, which is just a fraction of the 1.1 million square miles where the pirates have operated. A U.S.-backed international anti-piracy coalition currently has 12 to 16 ships patrolling the region at any one time.

Along the Somali coastline, an area roughly as long as the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, pirate crews have successfully held commercial ships hostage for days or weeks until they are ransomed. In the past week, pressured by naval actions off Somalia, the pirates have shifted their operations farther out into the Indian Ocean, expanding the crisis.

___

Associated Press Military Writer Anne Gearan contributed to this report.

 

[WorldAHope]

I can go one better gezz. Give pirates x amount of time to surrender. Announce to pirates, if one hostage is harmed all pirates will be shot. Along with killing all the pirates, we will go to their homes and kill their wives and children, their mother and father, and all blood relatives. Harsh yes, but very effective. It would only require one or two times. No more pirates.
gb

Another tough guy. Which unit would you suggest be sent in to kill all the women and children ?
You want them to film the bloodbath so you and your family can buy the DVD and watch it while you eat popcorn ? And how would you like to break the news to the family of the hostage that dies ?
Idiot. Go back to playing with your John Wayne Gacy blowup doll.

I said nothing about video taping anything. That's your sick weirdo interpretation. You probably get off on watching these Islamo thugs saw off someones head. Please note, I did say harsh but extremely effective. However, you seem to want this to go on and on. You probably feel we should apologize to them and offer them money. You also no doubt, would have been in favor of invading Japan with thousands of American lives lost, as opposed to dropping two very lethal bombs.
gb

Sure am glad the FBI negotiators and the Navy who are on scene and are highly trained to do this sort of thing aren't contemplating for one second doing ANYTHING you suggest. They have strict orders on those navy ships to NOT make threatening moves, to negotiate, to get the hostage out alive. That is all. No shoot 'em ups, no empty gestures. Results.
If it means those 4 pirates get money, they will do that. The hostage's employer has a policy to pay ransom, and will do so to end this standoff without loss of life. And the FBI and navy wants the pirates in custody, not dead.
This is a hostage situation. Once that is over, hopefully peacefully, the pirates overall will be dealt with. These 4 pirates are small fry. They are not important, even for making a macho statement.

Your comments on my supposed love of murderous terrorists and not invading Japan just show how goofy you are. You have no idea what I think of terrorists or World War II, or what I have done in the service of this country.

 

[RoadVirus]

Another tough guy. Which unit would you suggest be sent in to kill all the women and children ?
You want them to film the bloodbath so you and your family can buy the DVD and watch it while you eat popcorn ? And how would you like to break the news to the family of the hostage that dies ?
Idiot. Go back to playing with your John Wayne Gacy blowup doll.

I said nothing about video taping anything. That's your sick weirdo interpretation. You probably get off on watching these Islamo thugs saw off someones head. Please note, I did say harsh but extremely effective. However, you seem to want this to go on and on. You probably feel we should apologize to them and offer them money. You also no doubt, would have been in favor of invading Japan with thousands of American lives lost, as opposed to dropping two very lethal bombs.
gb

Sure am glad the FBI negotiators and the Navy who are on scene and are highly trained to do this sort of thing aren't contemplating for one second doing ANYTHING you suggest. They have strict orders on those navy ships to NOT make threatening moves, to negotiate, to get the hostage out alive. That is all. No shoot 'em ups, no empty gestures. Results.
If it means those 4 pirates get money, they will do that. The hostage's employer has a policy to pay ransom, and will do so to end this standoff without loss of life. And the FBI and navy wants the pirates in custody, not dead.

Yes...let's pay the f-ing ransom. And the pirates will say "Hey...we can take American hostages and get money!". What a good precedent to set. It'll be just like the Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton years

 

[WorldAHope]

clearly you dont think in any kind of tactical terms

What???!!! It appears as if you are suggesting that WorldHope, armchair general extraordinaire, has no actual tactical experience.

SHOCKERS.

Grismonda raises a good point. I wonder what blackwater forces would have done in this situation. Maybe more shipping companies should hire them.

You can have 30 of the world's best snipers surrounding, and none of them will get a clear shot at a pirate who is in a covered lifeboat, and that would likely kill the the hostage. Sorry if I did not add that information. Freefall covered lifeboats are what are on those cargo ships. What good would come from ceasing negotiations that should save the hostage so you can commence shooting ?
If the FBI and Navy followed some of the ideas mentioned so carelessly and so ignorantly in places like this board, they'd get nothing but dead people and grieving family members out of this.
I don't know how many people you have seen killed and wounded, or have saved in the line of duty, but firefights are to be avoided, if at all possible. They almost always have extremely negative results and high costs and are undesirable by all professionals, no matter what cyber hawks may say.

 

[WorldAHope]

I said nothing about video taping anything. That's your sick weirdo interpretation. You probably get off on watching these Islamo thugs saw off someones head. Please note, I did say harsh but extremely effective. However, you seem to want this to go on and on. You probably feel we should apologize to them and offer them money. You also no doubt, would have been in favor of invading Japan with thousands of American lives lost, as opposed to dropping two very lethal bombs.
gb

Sure am glad the FBI negotiators and the Navy who are on scene and are highly trained to do this sort of thing aren't contemplating for one second doing ANYTHING you suggest. They have strict orders on those navy ships to NOT make threatening moves, to negotiate, to get the hostage out alive. That is all. No shoot 'em ups, no empty gestures. Results.
If it means those 4 pirates get money, they will do that. The hostage's employer has a policy to pay ransom, and will do so to end this standoff without loss of life. And the FBI and navy wants the pirates in custody, not dead.

Yes...let's pay the f-ing ransom. And the pirates will say "Hey...we can take American hostages and get money!". What a good precedent to set. It'll be just like the Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton years

First of all, its not your money, its the MAERSK shipping line's employee at stake, and their money.
In case you hadn't heard, shippers have bene paying ransom. It has created a monster, and I agree, governments have to get shippers to protect their own vessels to prevent hijackings, and to STOP paying ransoms.
But this hostage situation must be ended as peacefully as possible. Unless you want the hostage dead ???? Even the pirates holding him do not want that to happen. He is they only thing between them and hard jail, or being shot.
When it is your life or the life of your loved one at stake, than you can make the tough decision.

Secondly, we can always get these pirates AFTER this situation is ended peacefully.

Somali pirates hijack ship with 21 Americans on board

 

[WorldAHope]

That would not be an appropriate mission for Special Ops. Too many people, too many towns, too large an area. Pirates come from all along the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. It is a lot of coastline to cover with naval vessels, much less invade.
Remember. We already did go into Somalia.
If any military action is taken, and I think the situation calls for doing something to end this problem, it needs to be an international effort, not just one country.
The US is not the police of the world.

I love to read the posts of keyboard warriors with their Rambo VII shoot 'em up mindset rattling their cyber spears, getting all sexually excited at lurid thoughts of unleashing another round of shock and awe upon a backward nation. The screams of villagers as the bombs land, the "cool" sound of explosions, the blood and body parts everywhere. You guys got hardons thinking of that.
Makes me so glad that the half crocked warmongering twerps are confined to their chairs and have no influence on anything anywhere.
Calling for indiscriminate carpet bombing and tactical nuclear strikes. Come off it.
Those are not even close to being good options, and everybody knows that.
Except stupid kids and wastecase armchair commandos.

I love to read the posts of armchair wimp do gooders...pleading for "an international effort " to do something. The international community has not the will nor the capability to do anything...stop dreaming.

I agree... WE do not need an international effort.

Where I grew up family and friends took care of each other, taking government help was all but unheard of. There was no need with the kind of bond we had.

In this situation this "family" of ours can take care of things, we don't need the international community to come give it's nod of approval. Now if our friends the Brits or Israelis want to come over and help I'm sure we'd welcome them warmly.

The patrolling has been performed by a mix of nations' vessels. USA, Britain, France, India, Russia, Japan, China, others. Even Iran sent a ship. All loosely organized with the senior American acting as commodore. It needs to be a better organized force, and it needs to be international.
That area is international waters, with ships form many nations transitting. It is not where the US has unilateral authority.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali pirate patrol: Day one
Somali pirates hijack ship with 21 Americans on board