In the ongoing somewhat surreal operation against piracy off Somalia,  the HDMS Absalon, a Danish destroyer, sank a pirate “mother ship” but allowed the pirates to return to shore.   The official goal appears to be to “disrupt” rather than stop pirate activities.   Thus far the naval flotilla has proven itself a significant inconvenience to the Somali pirates but little more.   It appears that the nation states involved continue to lack the will to arrest and charge the pirates under international law.  A policy of  ”catch and release” works well for stocking trout streams but does little in stopping piracy in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

NATO warship sinks pirate ship off Somalia