Pirates of the Indian Ocean

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It may be hard to believe, but piracy is alive and well in certain parts of the world -- The Atlantic's William Langewiesche has documented it brilliantly (see, for example, his book The Outlaw Sea). And there has been another incident off the coast of Somalia:

Pirates are reported to have hijacked a UN-chartered cargo ship delivering food aid to north-eastern Somalia.

The ship, the MV Rozen, had just delivered a cargo to Somalia's Puntland region when the pirates struck, a World Food Programme official said.

There have been no reports of demands from the pirates and it is not known if any of the 12 crew have been injured.

Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Somalia, which has had no stable central government for years.

Such is the chaos that prevails where there is no order whatsoever.