A very good piece of news indeed.  Pirates aboard the captured German ship M/V Hansa Stavanger with 24 hostages on board failed to locate their fellow pirates aboard the lifeboat with Capt. Phillips from the Maersk Alabama.  The New York Times reports: The pirates had hoped to use the hijacked 20,000-tonne container vessel, Hansa Stavanger, [...]

Here is the latest directly from Maersk:

Maersk Alabama Situation: 0600 EDT Update

Norfolk, Va., 9 April 2009: The current situation involving the Maersk Alabama has remained much the same throughout the night. The ship’s crewmembers have been accounted for and are safely aboard the vessel. However, the ship’s captain remains in the custody of the pirates, who departed in one of the ship’s encapsulated life boats on April 8.

The U.S. flagged M/V Maersk Alabama has been hijacked by pirates approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) northeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia. The ship reportedly has 21 U.S. citizens aboard and is the first U.S. flagged vessel to be hijacked by Somali pirates.

M/V Beriks – The stinking dutchman
M/V Beriks – The stinking dutchman

I’m seeing reports about a freighter adrift in the Black Sea dubbed “The stinking dutchman”. Needless to say, it caught my interest. Apparently the Dutch refer vessel Berkis, loaded Brazilian and Chinese meat and poultry in December, and then suffered a casualty to its refer system, resulting in over 200 tones of rotting meat that is apparently emitting quite an odor.

The Navy announced that the USS Chinook (PC-9) has made the first overnight stay by a U.S. ship in Iraq in more than 60 years. The port call is being hailed as a demonstration of stable security, cooperation, nd partnership with the Iraqi government. For more, check out the Navy press release.