Alive so far

The AP has the story of the hijacked Faina:

The crew on a hijacked Ukrainian cargo ship laden with tanks and heavy weaponry appear to be in good health, according to Lieutenant Stephanie Murdock, a Fifth Fleet spokeswoman in Bahrain.
Officials in Moscow say the ship's Russian captain died of a heart condition soon after the hijacking nearly two weeks ago. The remaining crew appeared fine in a photograph taken Friday, when the pirates granted a request by the Navy to have the crew step out onto the deck. The picture, released by the Navy, shows the men, mostly expressionless, with gunmen nearby. The crew of Ukrainians, Latvians, and Russians are leaning against the railing of the ship but not looking directly at the camera.

Rico says there's no telling how far off the Navy ship was when they took the picture, but the crew does seem to be peering in its direction.

Six U.S. warships are surrounding the Faina and a Russian frigate is headed toward the standoff. The Navy warships have been tracking the seized ship amid fears that its weapons might fall into the hands of al Qaeda-linked Islamic insurgents in Somalia. U.S. officials and others have said the weapons shipment was headed to South Sudan. In Kenya, a parliamentary committee launched an investigation Monday into whether the arms shipment was headed to South Sudan, not Kenya as the government here has claimed.
The Faina's hijacking, the most high-profile this year, illustrates the ability of a handful of pirates from a failed state to menace a key international shipping lane despite the deployment of warships by global powers. Some 26 ships have been hijacked off the notorious Somali coast this year already. Moscow has called for naval forces gathering in the area to coordinate their efforts against piracy.
The Somali government has given foreign powers the freedom to use force against the pirates, raising the stakes significantly. Russia, whose warship is not expected for several days, has used commando tactics to end several hostage situations on its own soil, but hundreds of hostages have died in those efforts.
A pirate spokesman, who could not be reached Monday, told the AP via satellite phone last week that the pirates were prepared to defend the ship and would not take less than their stated ransom of $20 million.