[jester]

The last report was last weekend. They will sink the ship if their demands are not met, and they will start killing the crew.

I asked this in another discussion group.

"Are they that stupid?"

The ship and the crew are the only thing keeping them from being killed by half a dozen countries. They kill the hostages or sink the ship they will loose their sheild. And the boat is basicaly surrounded, they try making a break to shore in their powered lifeboats, well, I can only imagine the gauntlet they would have to run to make it. I would bet on them succeeding.

At this point, I think their best bet is to radio, "You can have the ship back, we will be leaving, we'll take a couple of the crew with us in our boat as we motor to shore, and let them go once we land. Sorry for the misunderstanding." That is the best thing they can manage at this point, unless they want to go down with the ship or openly surrender and face a maritine trial for piracy.