Can anybody explain to me what is the purpose of Russian warships in the region if the Russian tankers are hijacked in the same time ?!?! Don't they have duty to protect Russian ships above all?

@jako777-- The reason why the Russian warships cannot rescue all the Pirates is because there is a Large traffic of vessels that use the same Route and those Pirates have faster speed boats. Without the world trying to help Somalis form an Economically viable country, you will see more of these being rampant.

If these tankers could shoot back there would be no problems. The hell with any law that prohibits carrying firearms. Use common sense.

@ David, I read that the shipping companies could not afford the insurance if the crews were armed. Or, at least, the costs would not be worth the exchange for human life. Gotta look at the bottom line. (I wonder if I can invest in pirate futures - has Goldman Sachs come up with a fund for that, yet?)

If (as reports suggest) the crew have barricaded themselves into the radar room, then they presumably have suitable equipment to communicate their status to any nearby Russian naval vessel. Any boarding party could then be clear to kill anyone NOT in the radar room when they arrive on the ship. I wish the Russian naval forces every success and hope the hostages will all be rescued unharmed.

I think there should be a naval presence in the area at all times! That route is used by darn near every country in the world so every country should take its turn to portect civilian vessels in the area.

Human rights, rights of being, rights of existence have to be aligned in perspective with the resourceful future of sustainable enterprise and exploitation of the human resourceful potential/exponential in a way that liberates equality as a viable resolution to conflicts on a global scale. Politics is all about payment...reasonable rates of return in exchange for contribution...the pirates are protesting against global capitalism and the loss of fishing stocks threatening survival. response to the global fishing crisis, in the view of the documentary called 'the end of the line' a global consensus and resolution to supplement dependency will be required if the oceans are going to be saved and restocked to support global interest with regards to future generations, in addition to managing global distribution of food stocks. Holding fishermen in a holding cycle like a plane over sustained period or redeploying their expertise into global conservation of the oceans is an essential part of taking control of the global sustainable enterprise to manage future relativity to an expectation of conservation in action. If we can not resolve the global issues of sustainable enterprise, enterprise is out of choice.