Arms ships owners strike deal with pirates

Pirates have reached a deal with the owners of a Ukrainian ship loaded with arms that was seized more than two months ago,The ship, which is filled with Soviet tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms, was seized on September 25. the U.S. Navy sent ships to monitor the vessel for fear its cargo could end up in the hands of terrorists.Fighting broke out among the pirates four days after they seized the ship, with some wanting to surrender and others refusing to hand over the ship. Three pirates were killed in the shootout. This story interested me because one of my cousins is on one of those ships that is monitoring the vessel. The pirates originally asked for a $35 million ransom, but lowered their demand to $20 million. But the reason that more and more pirate attacks have increased is not because of the goods that they take but because they have collected so much in ransom money. Earlier this month, Kenya's foreign minister claimed more than $150 million has been paid to pirates around the Horn of Africa a piracy hotspot over the past 12 months.

-Antonio Vann