by Laura Conaway

Hijacked ship
AP Photo

The Maersk Alabama

The crew has retaken that aid ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia — AP reports the captain is still held hostage — but not before listener Nicole Kontolefa noticed something. She writes:

JUST listened to the last Planet Money podcast yesterday and was amazed that it is cheaper to reroute cargo ships to go around Africa than pay the canal's toll. Then when I heard about the hijacking of a cargo ship, which is rarely reported on in the States it seems — it's a Maersk ship! Did they account for pirates in the cost benefit analysis of bypassing the Suez?

The Maersk Alabama was on its way to Kenya, with a load of food supplies for East Africa.