Canadians and Italians come to aid of U.S. ship

Pirates first went after a Lebanese ship, Maria K. When they were thwarted, they went after the Maersk Virginia (sister to Maersk Alabama). Obviously these pirates aren't very smart.

From CBS

The pirates broke off their pursuit of the Maria K and headed instead for the nearby American ship.

An Italian Naval helicopter joined the Canadian aircraft. With the helicopters hovering overhead, the pirates gave up their attempted hijacking and threw their weapons overboard before their boat was boarded by Italian seamen.

Good thing the Italians boarded the ship, as the Canadians have that "catch and release" policy regarding "suspected" Pirates.

No word yet on what the Italians have done with these "suspected" pirates.