VOA常速英语2007-US Navy Rescues Crew of North Korean Ship Off So

By Al Pessin
Washington
30 October 2007

The U.S. Navy rescued the crew of a North Korean cargo¹ ship off the coast of Somalia Tuesday, after it was attacked by unidentified men who took control of part of the vessel². VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

The U.S. Navy says when it was informed of the pirate attack, it immediately dispatched a helicopter from a ship about 90 kilometers away. The Navy says the pirates had taken control of the ship's command center, but the crew remained in control of the engine room and steering³ controls.

As the U.S. Navy destroyer James E. Williams approached the North Korean ship in the Indian Ocean northeast of Mogadishu, it contacted the pirates and ordered them to surrender. At about the same time, the Navy says, the cargo ship's crew attacked and overpowered the pirates.

In response to a request by the crew, the U.S. Navy ship dispatched a boarding party and a medical team to care for several people injured during the incident. Three of the crew members were so seriously injured that they had to be flown to the American ship for treatment. The Navy could not provide the nationalities of the crew members or say what cargo the North Korean ship was carrying.

In all, the Navy says there were 22 crew members and seven pirates involved in the incident. It says two of the pirates were killed and five were captured and remain on the North Korean vessel.

Navy spokeswoman, Commander Lydia Robertson, says the U.S. Navy frequently helps ships in distress⁴, regardless of where the ship or the crew comes from. "The key issue is helping⁵ a mariner⁶ in distress, whether there's a problem with a motor on a fishing vessel, whether someone is sick, we provide assistance to mariners⁷ in distress. That's the overarching mission there," she said.

Robertson says the pirates were likely from Somalia, and that Somali piracy⁸ is an ongoing⁹ problem in the region.

The head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program told VOA in Nairobi the incident resulted from a business dispute, and that the men who tried to take over the ship were security guards hired by one of the companies involved. The organization says this was the 26th reported ship hijacking¹⁰ off the Somali coast this year, and that several ships are still being held for ransom¹¹. He indicated it is unusual for a U.S. Navy ship to be close enough to help.

But Tuesday's incident followed another one on Sunday in which a U.S. Navy ship fired on a Japanese-owned chemical tanker¹² that had been taken over by pirates in the Gulf¹³ of Aden. With Somali government permission, the Navy ship pursued the tanker into Somali waters, and sank the pirates' small boats, which had been tied to the tanker. But the Navy says the tanker appears to still be under the pirates' control.

The U.S. Navy spokeswoman, Commander Robertson, says fighting piracy is part of the mission of the U.S.-led coalition¹⁴ naval¹⁵ force in the area. "Their main mission is maritime¹⁶ security operations, and part of that is the lawful¹⁷ maritime order. So we counter piracy and smuggling¹⁸. We protect maritime infrastructure¹⁹. So we're definitely committed to deterring²⁰ and stopping piracy whenever we can," she said.

She says the U.S. Navy helps train local navies to fight piracy, and takes direct action itself when appropriate.

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

4 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 mariner   

n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者

参考例句：

• A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.平静的大海决不能造就熟练的水手。
• A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands as well as upon the North Star.海员不仅要盯着北极星，还要注意暗礁和险滩。

7 mariners   

海员，水手（mariner的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Mariners were also able to fix their latitude by using an instrument called astrolabe. 海员们还可使用星盘这种仪器确定纬度。
• The ancient mariners traversed the sea. 古代的海员漂洋过海。

8 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

11 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

12 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

13 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

14 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

15 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

16 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

17 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

18 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

19 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

20 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网