Piracy in 2010 means more warships, and more pirates. A beefed-up naval presence has cramped the Somali pirates' style—and driven them outward to hunt in a wider area.
Small wooden skiffs with armed barefooted pirates have come to symbolize a huge asymmetric threat to maritime commerce. But a year ago, Navy snipers aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) killed three of four pirates holding Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips in the container ship's lifeboat. Those "shots heard 'round the world" served notice to pirates that the U.S. Navy was serious about stopping attacks on merchant shipping traffic near Somalia.
