… or actually, the pirates’ reprisals might be direct, also:

Pirates attacked another cargo ship early Tuesday morning in the Gulf of Aden, continuing a spate of attacks despite recent U.S. and French military action against hijackers in the waters.

Pirates attacked the M/V Irene between 1 and 2 a.m. local time Tuesday, about 100 miles southwest of Al Mukalla, Yemen, according to the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and pirate trackers. The ship was a St. Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged vessel, managed by a Greek company, and crewed by just over 20 sailors.

They also have two Egyptian fishing ships with another 24 crewmembers. The Wall Street Journal notes that makes for 77 pirate attacks and 18 successful hijackings since the beginning of the year.