BARAAWE, SOMALIA (UPI) -In a bold, high-seas attack, Somali pirates boarded and commandeered the Beijing-registered freighter New Star early Saturday morning, taking control of the vessel without bloodshed. According to sources in the shipping industry, the ship departed China early last week on its way to port in Long Beach, California. The primary cargo aboard the vessel is reported to be hundreds of shrink-wrapped palettes filled with awards-season DVD screeners of the George Clooney film “Up In The Air.”
“This really is a shame,” said Stan Rosenfield, Clooney’s long-time agent at the Creative Artists Agency. “We were hoping to get those copies into the hands of the Hollywood elite in advance of the Oscar nominations, but now who knows what chance George has in getting on the ballot.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Naval forces in the Indian Ocean were being mobilized as of Saturday afternoon, for possible intervention in the matter. “Acts of piracy like these can not and will not go unpunished,” U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Samuel Hopper said. “We take these matters very seriously, and even more so when they involve the theft of the work of one of America’s finest actors.”
Reached via satellite phone aboard the New Star, pirate leader Nadif Ghedi reiterated the demands submitted to Paramount earlier in the day. “By the end of Sunday, we require $20 million in unmarked U.S. currency, 2 million American Airlines frequent-flier miles deposited in the account of our designation, and an autographed picture of Vera Farmiga. And we require that Paramount promise not to release the remake of ‘Footloose’ anywhere on the African continent.”
Piracy has been an ongoing problem for Hollywood in the digital age, with file-sharing sites enabling people around the world to download many of the movie industry’s latest titles virtually at will. Insiders estimate that losses due to piracy will stretch high into the hundreds of millions of dollars, including lost revenue from movie tickets, DVD sales and theater nachos.
