Maybe they were just trying to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea? 

Somali pirates tried but failed to hijack a North Korean cargo ship when crew members fought back with improvised fire bombs and sped away, a maritime official said Tuesday.

Separately, other Somali pirates released a Greek-managed ship with 22 Filipino crewmen after five months in captivity, officials in the Philippines said.

The North Korean ship was adrift off the Somali coast near Mogadishu on Sept. 5 for engine work when the crew saw 10 pirates approaching in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The North Korean ship immediately started its engine and moved away, and the captain called the bureau for help when the pirates — dressed in military clothing — began firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, Choong said.

The crew fought back with improvised molotov cocktails — bottles filled with kerosene or similar fluid and set alight by a wick or rag. The crew also fired distress rocket flares at the pirates, and the ship escaped “after the captain increased speed,” Choong said.

The captain later told the IMB a U.S. warship arrived at the scene, but the pirates had fled, Choong added. He could not confirm it was a U.S. ship.

One of the 30 North Korean crew members was injured, and the ship was damaged, Choong said. The ship was heading to the Middle East when it was attacked. It was not clear where the ship went.  [Associated Press]

This actually isn’t the first time that a North Korean ship has been attacked and the crew fought back.  Last May a South Korean warship chased off pirates pursuing a North Korean ship and back in 2007 another North Korean ship fought off pirates with the help of the US Navy.

Not that we would ever know, but it would be interesting to see if the CIA has ever thought of hiring these pirates in Somalia as well as those that operate along the Straits of Malacca to intercept other North Korean ships?