Maersk Alabama pirate pleads guilty as prosecutions increase

THE first Somali pirate to be tried in the US in decades has pleaded guilty to 10 counts to commandeering the US-flagged 1,092-TEU Maersk Alabama in April 2009.

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, one of six Somali pirates, will face sentencing in October of a maximum jail term of 33 years and nine months for hijacking and hostage-taking of Capt Richard Phillips for a fortnight after the US navy capture.

International prosecutions now mount as Kenya's justice system, already overburdened, is unable to take on more Somalian piracy cases. A Yemini court sentenced six Somali pirates to death and the remaining six to jail terms of 10 years for seizure of a Yemen oil tanker in April 2009 that resulted in fatal wounding to one crewmember.

Pirates facing court prosecution in an Amsterdam court after a Dutch frigate rescue of a German-operated containership await a decision on extradition to trial in a Hamburg court.

Prosecutions come as a coalition of seafaring interests is raising demands for action by global e-petition www.endpiracypetition.org to end piracy and its risk to seafarers lives and world trade.

The coalition is supported by BIMCO, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), INTERTANKO, International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) and International Maritime Employers' Committee (IMEC) among others.

(Source: www.schednet.com)