Pirates
Some 16,000 ships navigate through the Gulf of Aden each year, with more and more of them coming under attack. The AP reported Thursday that six ships had fended off attacks over the previous two days and that a seventh had been captured. More than 77 ships have been attacked this year in the Gulf, at least 31 one of them falling to captors. Ransoms paid out in 2008 are reported to have topped $30 million.
The business of piracy has become so common that in Hobyo, a village 300 miles north of Mogadishu, all but four of the towns 80 fishing boats are now dedicated to piracy. The infusion of capital into Eyl, the coastal town where captured ships are most often taken, has been so great that a cup of tea, which previously cost only a few cents, is up to roughly a dollar. Prostitutes in Djibouti have reported making $1,000 to $3,000 in a single night.
My thesis, however, is not about Somalia, but rather about the likelihood of replication. I think this is likely a new generation of asymmetrical, economic warfare. The world has become too interconnected for piracy to remain isolated to the Gulf of Aden. Occasional acts of piracy have already been linked to Yemeni vessels, and global news coverage – exacerbated last month by the capture of a ship hauling 33 tanks – assures that knowledge of the effectiveness of the tactic will not remain unique to the horn of Africa.
BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed says such pirate gangs are usually made up of three different types: Ex-fishermen, who are considered the brains of the operation because they know the sea Ex-militiamen, who are considered the muscle — having fought for various Somali clan warlords The technical experts, who are the computer geeks and know how to operate the hi-tech equipment needed to operate as a pirate — satellite phones, GPS and military hardware.
The three groups share the ever-increasing illicit profits — ransoms paid in cash by the shipping companies. A report by UK think-tank Chatham House says piracy off the coast of Somalia has cost up to $30m (£17m) in ransoms so far this year. The study also notes that the pirates are becoming more aggressive and assertive — something the initial $22m ransom demanded for MV Faina proves.
The asking price has apparently since fallen to $8m. Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, is reportedly where the pirates get most of their weapons from. A significant amount is also bought directly from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Observers say Mogadishu weapon dealers receive deposits for orders via a “hawala” company — an informal money transfer system based on honour.
Militiamen then drive the arms north to the pirates in Puntland, where they are paid the balance on delivery. It has been reported in the past that wealthy businessmen in Dubai were financing the pirates.
But the BBC’s Somali Service says these days it is the businessmen asking the pirates for loans. Such success is a great attraction for Puntland’s youngsters, who have little hope of alternative careers in the war-torn country. Once a pirate makes his fortune, he tends to take on a second and third wife — often very young women from poor nomadic clans, who are renowned for their beauty.
But not everyone is smitten by Somalia’s new elite. “This piracy has a negative impact on several aspects of our life in Garowe,” resident Mohamed Hassan laments. He cites an escalating lack of security because “hundreds of armed men” are coming to join the pirates.
They have made life more expensive for ordinary people because they “pump huge amounts of US dollars” into the local economy which results in fluctuations in the exchange rate, he says. Their lifestyle also makes some unhappy.
“They promote the use of drugs — chewing khat (a stimulant which keeps one alert) and smoking hashish — and alcohol,” Mr Hassan says. The trappings of success may be new, but piracy has been a problem in Somali waters for at least 10 years — when Somali fishermen began losing their livelihoods.
Their traditional fishing methods were no match for the illegal trawlers that were raiding their waters. Piracy initially started along Somalia’s southern coast but began shifting north in 2007 — and as a result, the pirate gangs in the Gulf of Aden are now multi-clan operations. But Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed says, they do not see themselves as pirates. “Illegal fishing is the root cause of the piracy problem,” he says. “They call themselves coastguards.”
Somali pirates hijacked a Turkish ore freighter Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden, despite increased NATO presence.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the attack was one of many this week, though most were foiled. The Gulf of Aden (which lies between Somalia and Yemen) has had 77 ships attacked so far this year. Thirty-one were hijacked and ten ships and nearly 200 crew members are still in the hands of the pirates.
According to Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news, Turkey asked NATO for help in stopping the pirates, reported the AP, and a spokesman for the company that owns the freighter told the AP that Turkish authorities are in contact with various other authorities to find a way to rescue the ship. No contact has yet been made with the pirates.
According to Reuters, the International Maritime Bureau and its center for monitoring piracy on the high seas has called for international forces to strike against the Pirates’ “mother ships” in order to hinder their attacks.
“The positions of the mother ships are generally known. What we would like to see is the naval vessels interdict them, search them and remove any arms on board,” said Captain Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau, in an interview with Reuters. “That would, at least, force the pirates to go back to Somalia to pick up more arms before they could come back again.”
According to FAO, the UNs food and agricultural organization around 700 foreign vessels are involved in illegal fishing in Somali waters. This makes it totally impossible to monitor and control the fisheries in any meaningful way. That means that the status of the stocks are unknown. However, I believe we can safely expect the stocks to be in bad shape. Experiences from other places do not give fish stocks that are exploited unchecked good odds. This means that there is litle left for the traditional artisan fisheries of Somalia. These fisheries traditionally employed 30 000 fishermen, and another 60 000 in related industries. These are good boatspeople that now find themselves with litle or no money. OK, what expertise do these people have that can be harnessed in war torn Somalia. Ah, yes, you are right. They can handle boats and the can handle guns. Any career counsellors would see it immediately and counsel you to bring your CV to the nearest pirate establishment.
Of course, lets be clear, loosing your fish does not give you the right to tout guns and kill people, but it goes a long way toward explaining why people would do so. In addition to stealing fish, foreigners, again according to FAO dumped illegal hazardous waste in Somali waters. I can understand that people get angry.
Arab leaders will meet in Sanaa, Yemen, in late October to agree to greater co-operation in battling piracy off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. Officials from 10 countries will sign a memorandum of understanding before the end of October to share information and resources to better combat piracy.
They will discuss how countries can increase their naval presence in the region, although this will only proceed on a unilateral basis, rather than as a co-ordinated Arab military response. “”We are looking for an Arabian solution, under the umbrella of the International Maritime Organisation, to follow up piracy and do anything required to stop it,”" says one official at the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
About 60 ships have been attacked this year in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Officials have become concerned that the surge in piracy, combined with the decline in shipping as a result of the economic crisis, could hit trade at the region’s ports.
The Yemen Coastguard has formed an anti-piracy unit of 1,600 Special Forces troops and 16 high-speed boats. Nato is also sending seven frigates to support US Navy vessels that are already in the area. India and several European countries have also pledged patrols. “”We hope the military solution could be controlled by the Arab countries, otherwise this foreign military build-up in the region could be destabilising,”" says the SCA official. The six GCC countries, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Sudan, will attend the summit.
