US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for new measures to deal with pirates attacking shipping off the coast of Somalia.
Ms Clinton said the US would work with its international partners to find ways of prosecuting the pirates.
19 US crewmembers of the Maersk Alabama returned home early today after the dramatic high-seas release of their captain.
Family members and friends greeted the crew at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington in the early hours of the morning.
The Danish-operated Maersk Alabama crew had been in Mombasa, Kenya, since the vessel docked there on Saturday, three days after the pirate ambush in the Indian Ocean that saw the vessel's captain taken hostage for five days.
It is not known when Captain Richard Phillips will return home.
Capt Phillips was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge after his rescue on Sunday in which special forces snipers shot dead three of four pirates who had taken him hostage aboard a lifeboat.
Late on Tuesday, the Bainbridge came to the rescue of another US-flagged freighter, Liberty Sun, which was attacked by pirates while on its way to Mombasa to deliver food aid.
A pirate commander said the attack was in revenge for the US Navy operation that freed Mr Phillips.
