Nairobi, Kenya, April 3, 2010 – A U.S. warship captured five suspected pirates on Thursday after an exchange of fire in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, the U.S. navy said.

"USS Nicholas captured suspected pirates on Thursday after exchanging fire, sinking a skiff, and confiscating a suspected mother ship," the U.S. Navy said in a statement. It did not say whether the pirates were Somalis.

After the clash, the American ship chased the suspected pirate ship, which had been damaged, until it stopped, it said. It said it captured three pirates on the skiff and another two on the mother ship. The United States said that it expected pirates to increase attacks on merchant vessels due to better weather from March through May.

Pirate sources and a maritime source said that a Taiwanese ship had also been hijacked on Thursday.

Pirates operating off Somalia have stepped up hijack attacks on vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden in recent months, making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, despite the presence of foreign navies off the coast of Somalia.

Attacks had created a two-year boom for specialist insurance cover, but stiff competition and moves by owners to better protect ships has taken the edge out of insurance costs.

But analysts say the menace of piracy is far from contained, and unchecked growth in the rest of Africa, possible attacks in other key shipping channels and higher ransom demands will keep insurers interested in the long term. (Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by George Obulutsa and Elizabeth Fullerton) 
Source: Reuters, Thursday, April 1, 2010

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