They are perpetuating and exacerbating a crippling international menace by doing this. Flying those volumes of cash around will get you arrested for currency smuggling anywhere in the civilised world, so what if Somalia joins the club too? Can we do as we please there just because the place is a basket case?
One, Somalia isn't by most definitions "a civilized world" What better options do you propose to free the ship crews held hostage? Are the flag countries doing anything much?
Sure, things went wrong this time; but I can hardly blame the aircrew for this. They were doing this because no one else was doing anything.