Pirates

Jeff and I were awoken this morning by our youngest at 4:30 in the morning. We settled him back down, and then Jeff checked his email. He saw an email with a subject line referring to the shipment of goods we have been awaiting eagerly. The shipment is a few weeks overdue, so he was excited thinking that our shipment had finally arrived. His excitement turned into confusion as he momentarily wondered if this was some sort of Halloween prank. He quickly discovered that it was not a joke, and we learned that the boat carrying over $4,000 of our belongings had been attacked by pirates in between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.

Then our mood sank lower as we read on that six of the crew members aboard the ship had been taken captive by the pirates. Apparently none of the cargo was touched. 

I had heard of Somali pirates, but I wasn't really aware that were Nigerian pirates. 

I was initially baffled as to why they would have not stolen our (in my opinion) very nice belongings. At least $2,500 worth of American food. Surely that would be appealing. 

As I've researched further it appears that the pirates attacked the ship with just a speed boat, so that makes sense why they weren't interested in huge crates. And it appears that Nigerian law currently prohibits sailors from carrying weapons, so pirates know there will be no one armed on board. I'm gathering that kidnapping people is more appealing than kidnapping random stuff, because then the pirates hold their hostages for ransom from the boat owners.

Reading that was an interesting feeling, because we're overseas with the United States government, and during our training we are told repeatedly that if we are kidnapped, ransom will not be paid. It was made very clear that our government's policy is that paying kidnappers only provides incentive for kidnappers to continue kidnapping, and that American diplomats are actually safer from kidnapping because the kidnappers know they will receive no ransom for us. We're less of a target because of it.

The twelve remaining crew members on board the ship (the Demeter) have been reported as being unharmed and as having safely made it to Monrovia, Liberia. I'm grateful that those twelve are okay.

An acquaintance in Monrovia can actually see the exact shipping vessel from his living room window.

I can't imagine how the other six, the captured six, must be feeling. 

And simultaneously, I'm kind of wishing that my stuff had arrived and wondering if it will be delayed in Monrovia, if it is going to be part of a crime inquiry, or what is going to happen. 

And then I feel guilty for thinking about my stuff when there are families whose brothers or fathers or sons have been kidnapped.

But then I read that thus far in 2017, the "International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has recorded 121 piracy incidents in international waters, . . . including shootings, attempted kidnappings and hijackings of ships."

One hundred twenty-one. So many! That's twelve a month so far. That's a pretty high number. And I had no idea.

There's so much sad stuff going on all the time that I don't even know about. And the stuff that I do hear of makes my head want to explode from the pressure of contemplating that much pain and sorrow.

I wonder if there will be any way to follow this story and find out whether the six sailors are returned safely home. Or if I'm always going to wonder. I think if everyone ended up safe, this would turn into a kind of funny story—along the lines of "children, let grandma tell you the story of the time when pirates attacked the ship bringing all of her muffin and cornbread mixes from the US to Gabon. Yes, real pirates!"

But then I wonder if even then it could be funny, because there are reasons why these men chose to become pirates. Maybe their parents were pirates. Maybe they're greedy and have decided this is a great way to get rich quicker. Or maybe they're just desperate to feed their starving families and international fishing has ruined their livelihoods as local fishermen or poisoned waters have made farming impossible, and they've decided that any line of work—however unethical—is better than watching family suffer and die. I don't know what created the situation that led to them becoming pirates, but I can assume it wasn't terribly pleasant.

So here I sit running low on hair conditioner and feminine products and mosquito repellant wondering how soon my belongings will arrive and feeling guilty about bemoaning my "first world problems" when a few countries away there are kidnapped sailors.

But sometimes I feel like my heart can't possibly keep beating as I consider all of the horrific, tragic, hateful things that happen every day to so many people.

And I wish that all those people could be living in my world instead of theirs. In my world where children are loved and spouses are thoughtful and food is available. My world where the biggest personal concerns are how well the children are doing in school and what to make for dinner and will her cornbread mix ever show up in Gabon. Where my greatest pain is vicarious, imaginative pain.

Oh, how I wish.

I hope those sailors are okay. And I dream of a world where people willing to work could find honest work and didn't chose to be pirates. Because it turns out, they aren't as sexy as Hollywood makes them out to be.