New Central Command Unit Makes It Tough to be a Pirate

A new patrol in the U.S. Central Command is working to make it unprofitable to be a pirate, the commander of U.S. Navy Central Command and 5th Fleet said today.

Acts of piracy have "spiked" off the coast of Somalia with merchant vessels and crews being held for millions in ransom by pirates using AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and ladders to take "low and slow" ships traversing one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

The pirates come from a clan based on the northern coast of Somalia, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said, and they are in it for the money.

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