Paying the ransom is cheaper for these companies than buying a new ship to replace a destroyed one: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9717063

Paying the ransom is cheaper for these companies than buying a new ship to replace a destroyed one: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97170630 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9717063... "The ship owners and insurers have found that it's more cost-effective to pay ransoms. They are currently averaging slightly over $1 million per vessel, and that's cheaper than buying a new ship," Pham says. "The Saudi tanker that was seized [Monday] was just launched six months ago and cost $150 million to build and the cargo on board is worth $100 million, so I suspect the ship owners will be willing to pay some fraction of that to get it back." Continuing to pay the ransoms is much better for everyone involved than destroying the ships, except for the governments who want to enforce rule of law.