U.S. authorities are weighing possible responses to the hijacking of a yacht carrying four Americans in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Somalia.
The U.S. flagged yacht, Quest, is home to an American couple, who has been sailing around the world since 2004.
Officials say pirates commandeered the yacht off the coast of Somalia on Friday.
Earlier this week, a New York judge sentenced a Somali pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 highjacking of the Maersk Alabama container ship.
A second pirate was shot and killed during the rescue of the Maersk's captain.
International naval patrols off the coast of Somalia have had little success in stopping pirates from attaching ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
Pirates have made hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years highjacking and holding ships ransom.
The U.S. flagged yacht, Quest, is home to an American couple, who has been sailing around the world since 2004.
Officials say pirates commandeered the yacht off the coast of Somalia on Friday.
Earlier this week, a New York judge sentenced a Somali pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 highjacking of the Maersk Alabama container ship.
A second pirate was shot and killed during the rescue of the Maersk's captain.
International naval patrols off the coast of Somalia have had little success in stopping pirates from attaching ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.