Low-key war on pirates becomes more perilous

A second American warship was off the coast of Somalia near the captive vessel, a 115-foot tugboat called the Svitzer Korsakov with an international crew.

As long as the pirates didn't mistreat the crew and continued to negotiate a ransom with the ship's owner, the U.S. would not intervene. But if the pirates became violent or deprived crew members of food and water, heavily armed U.S. sailors were prepared to storm the Svitzer Korsakov and free the crew.

"We want the pirates to know there will be consequences if they escalate," said Rear Adm. Mark Balmert, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Three and point man for the Navy's 5th Fleet on piracy in the region.

The consequences are real: In October, the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Porter sank two pirate skiffs after receiving a distress call from a Panamanian-flagged, Japanese-owned cargo ship in international waters in the Indian Ocean.

Fighting piracy on the high seas is an increasingly significant part of Balmert's overall mission to maintain maritime security in an ever-volatile region.

Although the United States, along with various partners, has long taken on the job of stability in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden, the mission has expanded in the last year to include piracy off Somalia. Since October, the United States, leading a coalition of 20 nations, has kept at least one warship in international waters off Somalia.

U.S. sailors also are on the lookout in the Persian Gulf for pirates who might attack the smaller merchant ships and dhows.

"We're like a cop walking a beat," said Capt. David Adler, commander of the guided-missile cruiser Port Royal in the Persian Gulf. "We haven't had any piracy incidents, but that's because we're here."

Pottengal Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau, said involvement of the U.S. Navy and its coalition partners "may prove to be the only way to stop the pirates, which have until now shown complete disregard for the law."

The waters off Somalia, connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, has become a favorite hunting spot for pirates.