Next Tuesday, April 9, notes the 10th wedding anniversary of the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged truckMaersk Alabama It was the very first time in greater than 200 years that pirates had actually boarded an American- flagged vessel.

The prompt results of the assault– the kidnapping by the pirates of Captain Richard Phillips– held the globe petrified for 5 days. Phillips was imprisoned in a protected lifeboat up until Navy sharpshooters aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge interfered, eliminating 3 of the pirates.

What has transformed given that April 9, 2009? Could one more united state ship be pirated today?

“Absolutely, if we let our guard down,” Captain Phillips states. “Now there are cops on the beat—armed security guards aboard ships in addition to international navies patrolling pirate-prone areas—but if that situation changes, it could definitely happen again.”

He states “there are so few U.S.-flag ships now that it’s unlikely one would be hijacked. But are there still risks for American mariners? The answer is yes.”

Captain James Staples, a safety and security professional that operates at the Maritime Institute of Graduate Studies (MITAGS) in Linthicum Heights, MD, concurs.

“The piracy situation has only changed in one geographic area: off the coast of Somalia,” he states.

“Piracy globally continues. In Nigeria, it’s happening all the time: with people taken, ships taken. The de-escalation has only been in that one area and it’s all because of Captain Phillips. If he hadn’t been taken, this wouldn’t have happened. The threat is still high in other parts of the world. Rich Phillips was the catalyst; hundreds of sailors had been taken before but it didn’t make the news.”

Is the crucial aspect the existence of armed safety information? Are there various other aspects, as an example ships taking a trip further from the shore, in locations that are harder for pirates in tiny watercrafts to get to?

“Places like the Singapore Straits and Indonesia you just cannot get far from the coast due to the geography of the area,” Staples states.

“You are basically coastwise for days and in close proximity to shoals and other vessels.”

“And when you make an entry into a country, you have to cross the demarcation line at some point,” he includes.

After the Maersk Alabama hijacking, safety groups aboard at-risk ships had as numerous as 5 parts. “Now companies are down to two or three people, which is not enough to face down, for example, Abu Sayyaf or another terrorist group,” Staples states.

He and also Captain Phillips think the terrorist risk to ships– consisting of those flying the united state flag– is currently above the risk of piracy.

For much more information, check out http://captainphillipstrust.org.