The return of pirates?

As Somalia?s rulers have struggled with an insurgency and political instability that culminated in the resignation of the prime minister on Monday, piracy has flourished off its shores. Experts say that there have been ?many more? than the 26 attacks formally reported to the International Piracy Center this year, and new hijackings are reported with unfortunate frequency.

But the latest hijacking came with news that the United States Navy has now entered the fray. A distress call from a Japanese-owned chemical tanker, Golden Mori, found its way to the U.S.S. Porter, an American destroyer, which intercepted and then sank the two skiffs that the pirates used to reach the ship, according to CNN.

Now, the pirates have no obvious exit route, and another American destroyer, the Arleigh Burke is on their tail in Somali waters, which are usually something of a pirate refuge. This time, the American navy received permission to enter from the embattled transitional government.

These days there is a mind-boggling amount of pirate activity on the high seas, if a Reuters report about the second pirate attack this week is any guide (that one concerned a Korean vessel):

Four other boats ? a Comoros-registered cargo ship, two Tanzanian fishing vessels, and a ship from Taiwan ? area also being held by armed groups.

The International Piracy Center, which reported the end of a downward trend in pirate attacks earlier this month, recommends that ships stay at least 200 nautical miles away from the Somali coast, saying that the nasty seaborne criminals there are armed with rocket-propelled grenades and aren?t afraid to use them.

It?s not clear why the United States decided to engage these particular pirates, but it probably has nothing to do with the tanker?s dangerous cargo: benzene, a solvent linked to cancer. The American ship opened fire on the Golden Maru before it knew what the cargo was, according to CNN.

Other possible reasons include Japan?s especially close alliance with the United States, and perhaps a conclusion that matters have simply gotten out of hand off Somalia?s coast, and that it was time for the world?s most powerful navy to take up again the mission that it was created in the 1790s to perform.

?I trust some other assets are on their way,? a retired Navy reserve captain blogged about the operations off Somalia. ?Time someone busted these pirates? chops.?