The Navy's aware of a mother ship that operates off the Gulf of Aden, but since this attack happened significantly south of there, investigators are trying to figure out how it was carried out. They assume it's another mother ship, but so far, they have not found it.
"It absolutely marks a fundamental shift in the pirates' ability to conduct operations," Lt. Nathan Christensen, the spokesman for the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet, told ABC News. The operation shows the pirates are using more sophisticated technologies like GPS and are becoming more organized, he said.
"The attack on the tanker definitely represents an increased capability," Christensen said.
The threat from piracy has prompted a tidal shift in the shipping industry with the world's navies trying to establish a safe corridor, shipping companies facing rising costs in protection and evasion, and at least one seagoing-guns-for-hire company bulking up.
Blackwater Worldwide, which made a name for itself providing security in Iraq, has outfitted a ship with a helicopter pad and a well-armed crew to escort ships through pirate-infested waters.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrell said the company has been contacted by 67 shipping and insurance companies, but no contracts have been signed.
Since August the Combined Maritime Force, which includes the Fifth Fleet along with the United Kingdom, France and Spain, has stepped up its patrolling of the area, which includes the Gulf of Aden.
The CMF has created an international traffic corridor, a route it recommends that vessels, use where there will be additional protection. Christensen said that since the corridor has existed, the number of attacks has gone down 20 percent.
The CMF has also been working with shipping companies on self-defense, ranging from employing armed private security personnel to equipping the vessel with fire hoses on deck to spray the pirates as they try to board the ship.
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