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" According to NewYorkTimes.com, a group of Somali pirates captured a 17 thousand-ton U.S.-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden today carrying emergency relief to Kenya\u2014the sixth ship seized within a week. The vessel had 20 U.S. nationals on board, according to FoxNews.com. Ever since last spring, when a boatful of tattered Somali pirates hijacked Le Ponant, a French luxury cruise ship, there&amp;#039;s been much ado about this &amp;quot;new age of piracy&amp;quot;\u2014a boat-capturing tactic said to be the biggest money maker in Somali, most hijackings ending in million dollar payouts. So who are these pirates? According to NewYorkTimes.com, they are trained fighters, most often dressed in military fatigues\u2014and use speed boats operating from far-out larger ships (a recently reported new and more effective piracy strategy). The boats and the men are usually equipped with satellite phones, GPS equipment, automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various types of grenades. According to piracy expert Roger Middleton, pirates took up to $80 million in ransoms last year alone. Though the Gulf of Aden has employed patrol ships in the region\u2014which they said is the route where they&amp;#039;re able to provide the most protection\u2014NATO has claimed this a long-term issue, and is planning to install a permanent flotilla to the region this summer, according to NewYorkTimes.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/news/a43550/a-new-age-of-piracy-5133/>