Piracy Off The Coast Of Somalia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
,
Guardafui Channel The Guardafui Channel (, ) is an oceanic strait off the tip of the Horn of Africa that lies between the Puntland region of Somalia and the Socotra governorate of Yemen to the west of the Arabian Sea. It connects the Gulf of Aden to the north ...
, and
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the
War in Somalia (2006–2009) The Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, also known as the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia or the Ethiopian intervention in the Somali Civil War, was an armed conflict that lasted from late 2006 to early 2009. It began when military forces from Ethi ...
. The escalation of conflict between local Somali fishermen and foreign vessels occurred in a context where Somalia is estimated to have lost approximately $300 million annually since 1991 due to the unauthorized extraction of marine resources using harmful methods, such as dynamite fishing, which is prohibited in a number of other regions. Coastal Somali communities report that the conflict originated from their need to defend themselves against foreign trawlers, which they allege steal fish and restrict access to traditional fishing grounds. They also claim that the dumping of toxic and nuclear waste from Europe into their waters has resulted in severe environmental damage, including the death of children. Although several narratives exist surrounding this phenomenon, the coastal groups refer to themselves as the "people's coastguard", and this self-designation is widely recognized. Somali waters have high fisheries production potential, but the sustainability of those fisheries is compromised by the presence of foreign fishing vessels, a number of them fishing illegally. The Somali domestic fishing sector is small and poorly developed, whereas foreign vessels have fished in Somali waters for at least seven decades. Some foreign vessels and their crew have been viewed by Somali artisanal fishers as a threat to their traditional livelihoods. Multiple foreign vessels directly compete for fish, reducing fish populations and destroying marine habitat through bottom trawling. Foreign fishing has increased more than twenty-fold since 1981, and the most rapid increase occurred during the 1990s after the collapse of the Federal government under
Siad Barre Mohammed Siad Barre (, Osmanya script: , ''Muhammad Ziād Barīy''; 6 October 1919 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali military officer, politician, and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 Janu ...
and the ensuing
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
was designated as a
failed state A failed state is a state that has lost its ability to fulfill fundamental security and development functions, lacking effective control over its territory and borders. Common characteristics of a failed state include a government incapable of ...
in 1992, with extensive internal conflicts and major instability continuing until 2012, when the Federal Government of Somalia was established, which despite the intervention and support of foreign forces, could not fully establish its authority with threats from
jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...
group al-Shabaab, so Somalia remained characterised as a fragile state. This disorder meant there was no longer effective government policing of Somali waters by the Somali Navy, a weakness then exploited by often large foreign fishing boats, further threatening the livelihoods of local Somali fishing communities. Fishing community responded by forming armed groups to deter what they perceived as invaders. These groups, using small boats such as skiffs and motorised boats, would sometimes hold vessels and crew for ransom. Some pirates have indicated that they would cease their activities if a national Somali coastguard were established that could effectively secure Somali waters. This practice grew into a lucrative trade, where large
ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...
payments were demanded and often paid. These groups were then considered to be pirates, especially after they began hijacking non-fishing commercial vessels. With the region badly affected by
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
and government corruption, there was little political motivation at the local level to deal with the crisis. Large numbers of unemployed Somali youth began to see it as a means of making money. International organizations began to express concern over the new wave of piracy due to its high cost to global trade and the incentive to profiteer by
insurance companies Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
and others. Some believe that elements within Somalia collaborated with the pirates both to strengthen their political influence as well as for financial gain. After the
1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 220 people were killed in two nearly simultaneous car bomb, truck bomb explosions in two East African capital cities, one at the Embassy of the Uni ...
, the USS ''Cole'' bombing in 2000 in
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
,
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, followed by the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
decided to step up its activities around the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
and the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, by establishing in stages a multinational anti-piracy coalition known as Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), with an Area of Responsibility (AOR) including some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, spanning over two million square miles, covering the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
,
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
,
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
and
Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ''khalīj ʿumān''; ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ''khalīj makrān''; ''daryâ-ye makrān''), is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with th ...
(but not inside the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
, which is the responsibility of CTF 152). This area is a vital artery of world trade from the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
to
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and the US, with thousands of shipping movements per year including the transportation of over 27 million barrels of oil. The participating nations have included
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the United States. Command of CTF 150 generally rotates between nations on a four monthly basis. By 2010, these patrols succeeded in steadily reducing the number of piracy incidents. In early 2017, a few incidents of piracy were reported as the navies of Asian and European nations began to more actively rescue hijacked ships, including the
bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...
. In January 2023, the Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) was lifted by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) due to a significant absence of Somali pirate attacks in previous years, although Somali pirates still reportedly possess the ability and resources to conduct attacks in the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
region. As a derivative effect of the escalating
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
at the end of 2023, new piracy-related activity rose on the Somalian coast. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) the first successful hijacking of a cargo vessel in the area after six years happened in December 2023. On March 17, 2024 Indian naval commandos led a rescue operation taking back control over the vessel about 500 km off the coast of Somalia bringing the 35 Somali pirates to prosecution in Mumbai. This resurface of piracy in the area is closely linked to the unaltered root causes and the instability which the war creates in the area.


History

In the early 1980s, prior to the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia, the Somali Ministry of Fisheries and the Coastal Development Agency (CDA) launched a development program focusing on the establishment of agricultural and fishery cooperatives for artisanal fishermen. It also received significant foreign investment funds for various fishery development projects, as the Somali fishing industry was considered to have a lot of potential owing to its unexploited marine stocks. The government at this time permitted foreign fishing through official licensing or joint venture agreements, forming two such partnerships in the Iraqi-Somali Siadco and Italian-Somali Somital ventures. After the collapse of the central government in the ensuing civil war, the Somali Navy disbanded in 1990–1991. With Somali territorial waters undefended, foreign
fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...
s began illegally fishing on the Somali seaboard and ships began dumping industrial and other waste off the Somali coast. This led to erosion of the fish stock and local fishermen started to band together to try to protect their resources. An escalation began, leading to weapons being used and tactics such as taking over a foreign ship until their owners paid a ransom. Pirate activity reportedly began off the coast around 2000, but rapidly escalated during the War in Somalia from 2006 to 2009. During the Islamic Court Union's six-month rule of southern Somalia in the months prior, pirate activity completely ceased due to the extensive
anti-piracy Anti-piracy may refer to: * Anti-piracy measures Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking ...
operations conducted by the courts. After the organization's collapse in early 2007, piracy sharply increased. Reportedly, elements within the
Transitional Federal Government The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) (, , ) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Somalia from 14 October 2004 until 20 August 2012. It was established in Nairobi, Kenya, following the Transitional National Govern ...
(TFG) were involved in the lucrative piracy business during this early period. Seeing the profitability of ransom payments, some financiers and former militiamen started to fund pirate activities, sharing the profits equally with the pirates. In most of the hijackings, the pirates have not harmed their prisoners. Combined Task Force 150, a multinational coalition task force, subsequently took on the role of fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia by establishing a Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) within the Gulf of Aden. However, a number of foreign naval vessels chasing pirates were forced to break off when the pirates entered Somali territorial waters. To address this, in June 2008, following a letter from the Somali TFG to the President of the UN Security Council requesting assistance for the TFG's efforts to tackle acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a declaration authorizing nations that have the consent of the Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters to deal with pirates. On the advice of lawyers, the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and other international naval forces have often released suspected pirates that they have captured because, although the men are frequently armed, they have not been caught engaging in acts of piracy and have thus not technically committed a crime. Due to improved anti-piracy measures the success of piracy acts on sea decreased dramatically by the end of 2011, with only 4 vessels hijacked in the last quarter versus 17 in the last quarter of the preceding year. In response, pirates resorted to increased hostage taking on land. The government of the autonomous
Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...
region has also made progress in combating piracy, evident in interventions by its maritime police force (PMPF). In part to further curtail piracy activity, the London Somalia Conference was convened in February 2012. According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean had by October 2012 dropped to a six-year low. Attempted hijackings fell from 237 in 2011 to 75 the following year, with successful attacks plummeting from 28 in 2011 to 14 in 2012. Additionally, only one ship was attacked in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 36 during the same period in 2011.


Summary of events

Somali pirates have attacked hundreds of vessels in the
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...
and
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
region, though most attacks do not result in a successful hijacking. In 2008, there were 111 attacks which included 42 successful hijackings. However, this is only a fraction of the up to 30,000 merchant vessels which pass through that area. The rate of attacks in January and February 2009 was about 10 times higher than during the same period in 2008 and "there have been almost daily attacks in March", with 79 attacks, 21 successful, by mid-April. Most of these attacks occurred in the Gulf of Aden but subsequently the pirates increased their range and started attacking ships as far south as off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. Below are some notable pirate events which have garnered significant media coverage since 2007.


2005

The
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
cutter , working with the British aircraft carrier and destroyer in the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
, intercepted a hijacked vessel at around noon on 17 March. The interception was ordered after Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) received telephone reports from the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center in
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
, Malaysia, concerning the hijacking of the Thai-flagged fishing boat ''Sirichai Nava 12'' by three Somalis on the evening of 16 March, as well as a fax indicating that the hijackers demanded U.S. $800,000 in ransom for the vessel's crew. Commander, Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 tasked ''Invincible'', ''Nottingham'' and ''Munro'' to investigate the situation. A Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team from ''Munro'' boarded ''Sirichai Nava'', while a boarding team from ''Nottingham'' went on to a second fishing vessel, ''Ekhwat Patana'', which was with the Thai vessel. ''Munro''s boarding team detained the Somalis without incident. One of the crew members of the Thai vessel had a minor flesh wound, which was treated by the ''Munro'' boarding team. The Coast Guardsmen also discovered four automatic weapons in the pilothouse, expended ammunition shells on the deck of the vessel, as well as ammunition on the detained suspects. The three suspects were transferred to ''Munro''.


2007

On 28 May 2007, a Chinese sailor was killed by the pirates because the ship's owners failed to meet their ransom demand. On 3 June 2007, , a
landing ship dock A dock landing ship (also called landing ship, dock or LSD) is an amphibious warfare ship with a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class landing shi ...
, engaged pirates attacking the freighter MV Danica White, but failed to repel them. In October 2007, Somali pirates hijacked a North Korean cargo ship in the Dai Hong Dan incident. Somali pirates took the North Korean sailors hostage, prompting the United States to come to its aid—an uncommon occurrence between both nations at the time. A U.S. Naval vessel, the USS James E. Williams, assisted North Korean sailors reclaim their ship. Three Somali pirates and six North Korean sailors were wounded during the operation. The U.S. was thanked by North Korea for its help shortly afterwards. On 28 October 2007, the destroyer , opened fire on pirates who had captured a freighter and with other vessels blockaded a port the pirates attempted to take refuge in.


2008

On 5 October 2008, the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
adopted resolution 1838 calling on nations with vessels in the area to apply military force to repress the acts of piracy. At the 101st council of the International Maritime Organization, India called for a United Nations
peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed w ...
force under unified command to tackle piracy off Somalia. (There has been a general and complete arms embargo against Somalia since 1992.) In November 2008, Somali pirates began hijacking ships well outside the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
, perhaps targeting ships headed for the port of
Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
, Kenya. The frequency and sophistication of the attacks also increased around this time, as did the size of vessels being targeted. Large cargo ships, oil and chemical tankers on international voyages became the new targets of choice for the Somali hijackers. This is in stark contrast to the pirate attacks which were once frequent in the
Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...
, another strategically important waterway for international trade, which were according to maritime security expert Catherine Zara Raymond, generally directed against "smaller, more vulnerable vessels carrying trade across the Straits or employed in the coastal trade on either side of the Straits." On 19 November 2008, the
Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...
warship sank a suspected pirate
mothership A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bomber aircraft, bombers converted to carry exp ...
. Later, it was claimed to be a Thai trawler being hijacked by pirates. The Indian Navy later defended its actions by stating that its ship was fired upon first. On 21 November 2008, BBC News reported that the Indian Navy had received United Nations approval to enter Somali waters to combat piracy.


2009

On 8 April 2009, four Somali pirates seized southeast of the Somalia port city of Eyl. The ship was carrying 17,000
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
s of cargo, of which 5,000 tonnes were relief supplies bound for Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. On 12 April 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL snipers killed the three pirates who were holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage aboard a lifeboat from ''Maersk Alabama'' after determining that Captain Phillips' life was in immediate danger. A fourth pirate, Abdul Wali Muse, surrendered and was taken into custody. He pled guilty to hijacking, kidnapping and hostage taking charges, receiving a sentence of 33 years and 9 months in Federal prison. On 20 April 2009,
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
commented on the capture and release of seven Somali pirates by Dutch Naval forces who were on a NATO mission. After an attack on ''Handytankers Magic'', a petroleum tanker, the Dutch
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
tracked the pirates back to a pirate mothership and captured them. They confiscated the pirates' weapons and freed 20 Yemeni fishermen whom the pirates had kidnapped and who had been forced to sail the pirate mothership. Since the Dutch Naval Forces were part of a NATO exercise, but not on an EU mission, they lacked legal jurisdiction to keep the pirates so they released them. Clinton stated that this action "sends the wrong signal" and that additional coordination was needed among nations. On 23 April 2009, international donors pledged over $250 million for Somalia, including $134 million to increase the African Union peacekeeping mission from 4,350 troops to 8,000 troops and $34 million for Somali security forces.
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...
told delegates at a donors' conference sponsored by the UN that "piracy is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground" and that "more security on the ground will make less piracy on the seas." Somali
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Sharif Ahmed pledged at the conference that he would fight piracy and to loud applause said that "it is our duty to pursue these criminals not only on the high seas, but also on terra firma". The Somali government has not gone after pirates because pirate leaders currently have more power than the government. In 2008 the pirates are estimated to have gained about $80 million through ransom payments.
George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...
professor Peter Leeson suggested that the international community appropriate Somali territorial waters and sell them, together with the international portion of the Gulf of Aden, to a private company which would then provide security from piracy in exchange for charging tolls to world shipping through the Gulf. On 2 May 2009, Somali pirates captured MV ''Ariana'' with its 24 Ukrainian crew. The ship was released on 10 December 2009 after a ransom of almost US$3,000,000 was paid. On 8 November 2009, Somali pirates threatened that a kidnapped British couple, the Chandlers, would be "punished" if a German warship did not release seven pirates. Omer, one of the pirates holding the British couple, claimed the seven men were fishermen, but a European Union Naval Force spokesman stated they were captured as they fired
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
assault rifles at a French
fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...
. The Chandlers were released on 14 November 2010 after 388 days of captivity. At least two ransom payments, reportedly over £500,000, had been made.


2010

In April 2010, the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
(CIA) alluded to possible covert and overt action against the pirates. CIA officials had been publicly warning of this potential threat for months. In a ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'' article, a CIA official said, "We need to deal with this problem from the beach side, in concert with the ocean side, but we don't have an embassy in Somalia and limited, ineffective intelligence operations. We need to work in Somalia and in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, where a lot of the ransom money has changed hands. But our operations in Lebanon are a joke, and we have no presence at all in Somalia". In early May 2010, Russian special forces retook a Russian oil tanker that had been hijacked by 11 pirates. One died in the assault, and a week later Russian military officials reported that the remainder were freed due to weaknesses in
international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
but died before reaching the Somali coast.
Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...
had announced the day the ship was retaken that "we'll have to do what our forefathers did when they met the pirates" until a suitable way of prosecuting them is available. On 11 May 2010, Somali pirates seized a Bulgarian-flagged ship in the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
. ''Panega'', with 15 Bulgarian crew members aboard, was en route from the Red Sea to India or Pakistan. This was the first such hijacking of a Bulgarian-flagged ship. On 12 May 2010, Athens announced that Somali pirates had seized a Greek vessel in the Gulf of Aden with at least 24 people on board, including two Greek citizens and several Philippine citizens. The vessel, sailing under the Liberian flag, was transporting iron from Ukraine to China.


2011

On 14 January 2011, while speaking to reporters, Commodore Michiel Hijmans of the
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...
stated that the use of hijacked vessels in more recent hijackings had led to increased range of pirating activities, as well as difficulty to actively thwart future events due to the use of kidnapped sailors as human shields. On 20 January, a 14 Royal Malaysian Navy PASKAL assault teams engaging seven Somali pirates on board the Japanese-Malaysian chemical freighter MT ''Bunga Laurel'', about east of Oman, near Gulf of Aden and
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...
, resulting in 3 pirates wounded, 4 remaining pirates captured, and the freeing of 23 Filipino hostages after gunfighting aboard the vessel. On 15 January 2011 13 Somali pirates seized ''Samho Jewelry'', a Maltese-flagged chemical carrier operated by Samho Shipping, 650 km southeast of
Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...
. The Republic of Korea Navy destroyer shadowed ''Samho Jewelry'' for several days. In the early morning of 21 January 2011, 25 ROK Navy SEALs on small boats launched from ''Choi Young'' boarded ''Samho Jewelry'' while ''Choi Young''s Westland Super Lynx provided covering fire. Eight pirates were killed and five captured in the operation; the crew of 21 was freed with the captain suffering a gunshot wound to the stomach. The captain fully recovered later. On 28 January 2011, an
Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and Exclusive economic zone of India, exclusive economic zone. It was st ...
aircraft while responding to a distress call from ''CMA CGM Verdi'', located two skiffs attempting a piracy attack near
Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...
. Seeing the aircraft, the skiffs immediately aborted their piracy attempt and dashed towards the mother vessel, MV ''Prantalay 14'' – a hijacked Thai trawler, which hurriedly hoisted the two skiffs on board and moved westward. The Indian Navy deployed INS ''Cankaraso'' (T73) which located and engaged the mothership north of the
Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian States and territories ...
island. Ten pirates were killed while 15 were apprehended and 20 Thai and Burmese fishermen being held aboard the ship as hostages were rescued. Within a week of its previous success, the Indian Navy captured another hijacked Thai trawler, MV ''Prantalay 11'' and captured 28 pirates aboard in an operation undertaken by pursuant to receiving information that a
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
merchant ship had been attacked by pirates on board high-speed boats, although it had managed to avoid capture. When INS ''Tir'' ordered the pirate ship to stop and be boarded for inspection, it was fired upon. INS ''Tir'' returned fire in which three pirates were injured and caused the pirates to raise a white flag indicating their surrender. INS ''Tir'' subsequently was joined by CGS ''Samar'' of the Indian Coast Guard. Officials from the Indian Navy reported that a total of 52 men were apprehended, but of that 24 are believed to be Thai fishermen who were hostages of the 28 African pirates. In late February 2011, piracy targeting smaller yachts and collecting ransom made headlines when four Americans were killed aboard their vessel, ''Quest'', by their captors, while a military ship shadowed them. A federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, sentenced three members of the gang that seized the yacht to life imprisonment. On 24 February 2011 a Danish family on a yacht were captured by pirates. In March 2011, the Indian Navy intercepted a pirate mother vessel west of the Indian coast in the Arabian Sea and rescued 13 hostages, the names of the 13 hostages are James Blaydes, Thomas Walton, Lucas Pittman, Thomas Strauss, William Dickey, Jett Rice, Jude Coppola, and Rex Reeves. The names of the others were not found. Sixty-one pirates were also caught in the operation carried out by Navy's INS ''Kalpeni'' (T75). In late March 2011, the Indian Navy seized 16 suspected pirates after a three-hour-long battle in the Arabian Sea, The navy also rescued 16 crew members of a hijacked Iranian ship west of the Lakshadweep Islands. The crew included 12 Iranians and four Pakistanis. On 12 April, intercepted a pirate vessel, capturing 34 pirates and freeing 34 hostages. Later that day, opened fire on another pirate vessel, killing 2 pirates. A hijacked
dhow Dhow (; ) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels ...
was hailed by on 10 May, after which 7 pirates on board immediately surrendered. The ship's 15 crew members claimed they were hijacked six months prior and their ship was used as a mothership for the pirates. On 16 May, exchanged fire with ''Jih Chun Tsai 68'', a known pirate mothership. When a boarding team arrived, they found 3 pirates dead and captured 2 pirates. The Danish Navy vessel, HDMS ''Esbern Snare'' exchanged fire with a hijacked boat, killing 4 pirates on 17 May. A boarding team subsequently captured 24 injured pirates and freed 16 hostages. On 11 September, a Spanish Navy patrol boat engaged Somali pirates, freeing a French hostage after sinking the pirate skiff and capturing 7 pirates. The woman was taken hostage after pirates killed her husband and left her catamaran off the coast of Yemen. On 3 October, the Tanzania navy freed a hijacked vessel and apprehended seven pirates, They are handed over to civilian police for further action. On 11 October,
Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
embarked on board freed 23 crew members of a hijacked Italian cargo ship after it had been captured by pirates five days earlier. USS ''DeWert'' was the first vessel to arrive on scene after gathering intelligence on the whereabouts of the vessel and deploying counter intelligence surveillance units in the area. On 31 October, the Kenyan military announced that they had captured two pirate skiffs, sunk three, and killed 18 pirates. In October 2011, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, while working on a Danish Refugee Council
demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...
project were kidnapped in Galkayo. The pair were rescued in January 2012.


2012

On 5 January 2012, an MH-60S Seahawk from the
guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...
, part of Carrier Strike Group 3 led by the , detected a suspected pirate skiff alongside the Iranian-flagged fishing boat, ''Al Molai''. The master of ''Al Molai'' sent a distress call about the same time reporting pirates were holding him captive. A team from ''Kidd'' boarded the dhow, a traditional Arabian sailing vessel, and detained 15 suspected pirates who had been holding a 13-member Iranian crew hostage for several weeks. ''Al Molai'' had been hijacked and used as a mothership for pirate operations throughout the Persian Gulf, members of the Iranian vessel's crew reported. Acting on intelligence, boarded the Indian-flagged dhow ''Al Qashmi'' on 6 January. By the time the search team boarded, all evidence of potential piracy had been disposed of, though the crew said they were hijacked by the nine pirates on board from a different vessel. The nine suspected pirates were disarmed and given sufficient fuel and provisions to return to Somalia. The next day, the Danish warship intercepted an Iranian-flagged dhow after identifying it as a potential pirate mother ship. Warning shots had to be fired before a search team boarded. In addition to the crew of 5 Iranian and 9 Pakistani nationals, the team seized 25 pirates. The captured pirates were then taken aboard ''Absalon'' to determine whether they should be prosecuted. A third pirate vessel was intercepted on 13 January. RFA ''Fort Victoria'' fired off warning shots to stop the vessel and then launched a boarding party. The pirates surrendered without incident and search uncovered several
rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...
s and automatic weapons. Royal Marines held the pirates for further investigation. On 21 January 2012, while researching a book on piracy via a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting grant, journalist Michael Scott Moore was abducted in Galkayo by a local gang of pirates. THe pirates demanded a $20 million. U.S. and German Foreign Ministry officials negotiated with the pirates until Moore was freed, September 22, 2014, after $USD1.6 million dollars ransom was paid, and following 977 days of captivity. In January 2012, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted had been held captive approximately twelve miles north of the Somali town of Adado,
Galguduud Galguduud (, , or ''Ghelgudud'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') of Galmudug state in central Somalia. Its administrative capital is Dusmareb. The largest town in the region is El Buur, which lies at the centre of the region. Galgudu ...
since the previous October. Their captors had been seeking a ransom. On 25 January 2012, U.S.
Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...
s parachuted from a
Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
, attacked the compound, killed all nine pirates holding them, and rescued both aid workers.


2013 and decline

On 11 October, pirates attacked Hong Kong registered tanker ''Island Splendor'' and attacked a Spanish fishing vessel three days later. Suspected to have been carried out by the same group of pirates, they were tracked down by RFA ''Fort Victoria'', supported by , , European Union flagship , and a Seychelles-based maritime patrol aircraft from Luxembourg. The pirate skiffs were tracked by ''Melbourne''s Seahawk helicopter, a boarding team from ''Melbourne'' searched the skiffs, they successfully apprehended nine pirates and later destroyed two skiffs and their equipment. By December 2013, the US
Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serv ...
reported that only nine vessels had been attacked during the year by the pirates, with no successful hijackings. Control Risks attributed this 90% decline in pirate activity from the corresponding period in 2012 to the adoption of best management practices by vessel owners and crews, armed private security on board ships, a significant naval presence, and the development of onshore security forces. With the increase in illegal fishing off Somalia after the 2013 decline in piracy, fishing vessels became targets in a few incidents in 2015. In March two Iranian vessels and in November one Iranian and a Thai vessel were attacked.


2015

In 2015, a report by the Spanish Office of the Chieff of Staff of the Navy stated that the EU
Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the ...
had been a "success" and that the "periodic reports prepared by intelligence units and sent to the Navy Staff reflect the "practical eradication of suspicious activity" in these waters." After a small rebound in 2017, the European Union has periodically extended Operation Atalanta, and the official position has been that "piracy in Somalia is contained, but not eradicated".


2017

The tanker ''Aris 13'', which had been carrying fuel from Djibouti to
Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...
, was hijacked off the coast of Somalia on 13 March 2017. This was the first reported hijacking of a large commercial vessel in five years. Two skiffs approached the tanker and boarded the vessel off the northern coast of Somalia. Eight Sri Lankan crew members were aboard at the time. After being captured, ''Aris 13'' was taken to Alula and anchored there before its release without ransom was confirmed by security officials on 16 March 2017.


2023

In January 2023, the "Indian Ocean High Risk Area" was removed, following no reported attacks by Somali pirates for several years. Piracy resurged in the region during the early 2020s, with incidents of piracy and hijacking in the Somali basin continuing to increase. The March 2024 hijacking of the ''Ruen'' by Somali pirates was their first successful attack on commercial shipping tankers since 2017. In November 2023, amid the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, the crew of the USS Mason (DDG-87) thwarted a suspected Somali pirate attack on the ''Central Park'', a Liberian-flagged tanker ship owned by Zodiac Maritime, which is owned by an Israeli.


2024

In the beginning of 2024, piracy seemed to have had a rebound in the region. In March 2024,
MV Abdullah MV ''Abdullah'', originally named MV ''Golden Hawk'', is a Bangladeshi bulk carrier. History Built in 2015, the vessel was acquired in late 2023 from Japanese owners. The MV ''Abdullah'' is currently owned by KSRM Shipping Ltd. Hijacking On ...
was hijacked by pirates and the crew taken hostage. The increase has been attributed to a change of focus, from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, according to the Maritime Policy Initiative at the
Observer Research Foundation Observer Research Foundation (ORF) is an independent global think tank based in Delhi, India. The foundation has three centres in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. ORF provides potentially viable inputs for policy and decision-makers in the Indian ...
, a
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
. Pirates armed with Kalashnikov-style rifles and rocket-propelled grenades fired upon the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...
- flagged ''Chrystal Arctic'' in an attempted hijacking as it voyaged through the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
on May 10 but subsequently retreated after the vessel's security team returned fire. The vessel continued its voyage with all of its crew members safe. Six suspected Somali pirates were later located and detained by EUNAVFOR naval forces, as part of
Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the ...
. The Indian Navy has now emerged as an important player in the western Indian Ocean and has repeatedly carried out operations against pirates. In March 2024, 35 Somali pirates captured from the hijacked bulk carrier MV Reun were sent to Mumbai to be tried. The Indian Navy had carried out a major long-range operation to free the ship.


Pirates


Profile

Most Somali pirates are young. An official list issued in 2010 by the Somali government of 40 apprehended pirate suspects noted that 80% (32/40) were born in Somalia's southern conflict zones, while only 20% (8/40) came from the more stable northern regions. As of 2012, the pirates primarily operated from the
Galmudug Galmudug (; ), officially Galmudug State of Somalia (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in central Somalia, with its capital at Dhusamareb. It is bordered to the north by the Puntland state of Somalia, to the west by the S ...
region in the central section of the country. In previous years, they largely ventured to sea from ports located in the northeastern province of
Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...
until the regional administration launched a major anti-piracy campaign and operation and established a maritime police force (PMPF). According to a 2008 BBC report, the pirates can be divided into three main categories: * Local fishermen, considered the brains of the pirates' operations due to their skill and knowledge of the sea. * Ex-militiamen, who previously fought for the local clan warlords, or ex-military from the former Barre government used as the muscle. * Technical experts, who operate equipment such as GPS devices. The closest Somali term for 'pirate' is ''burcad badeed'', which means "ocean robber". However, the pirates themselves prefer to be called ''badaadinta badah'' or "saviours of the sea" (often translated as "coast guard").


Methodology

The methods used in a typical pirate attack have been analyzed. They show that while attacks can be expected at any time, most occur during the day; often in the early hours. They may involve two or more skiffs that can reach speeds of up to 25 knots. With the help of motherships that include captured fishing and
merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which a ...
s, the operating range of the skiffs has been increased far into the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
. An attacked vessel is approached from quarter or stern; RPGs and small arms are used to intimidate the operator to slow down and allow boarding. Light ladders are brought along to climb aboard. Pirates then will try to get control of the bridge to take operational control of the vessel. When pirates take control of the bridge, they do not seek to steal from the ship or to impose violence on any of the crew. Instead, they attempt to get into communications with the ship's bank via radio and telephone. Once they have reached communications with the bank, they hand the operation over to their negotiator, who is on land somewhere in or around Somalia. The negotiator often has a strong command of the English language and an understanding of finance. It is their job to win a large
ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...
money for the pirates from the ship's bank. While these negotiations go on, the pirates hold the crew hostage, maintaining as much order as possible. Oftentimes, these negotiations can take multiple hours and even several days. Once an agreement is reached between the negotiator and the ship's bank, a helicopter hovers over the ship and drops a package full of cash onto the ship's deck. When the pirates have retrieved their ransom money, they call back their mother ship to come pick them up. Once picked up from the ship, they flee the scene as quickly as possible, returning to the shores of Somalia. According to
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
, pirates often jettison their equipment in the sea before arrest, as this lowers the likelihood of a successful prosecution.


Weaponry and funding

The pirates obtain most of their weapons from
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, but a significant number are sourced from
Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...
, Somalia's capital. Weapons dealers in the capital receive a deposit from a ''
hawala Hawala or hewala ( , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), originating in India as havala (), also known as in Persian, and or in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a hug ...
'' dealer on behalf of the pirates and the weapons are then driven to
Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...
, where the pirates pay the balance. Various photographs of pirates in situ indicate that their weapons are predominantly
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
, AKM, Type 56, RPK, PKM, RPG-7, and Tokarev pistols. Additionally, given the particular origin of their weaponry, they are likely to have
hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
s such as the RGD-5 or F1. The funding of piracy operations is now structured in a
stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...
, with investors buying and selling shares in upcoming attacks in a bourse in Harardhere. Pirates say ransom money is paid in large-denomination US dollar bills. It is delivered to them in burlap sacks, which are either dropped from helicopters or cased in waterproof suitcases loaded onto tiny skiffs. To authenticate the
banknote A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...
s, pirates use currency-counting machines, the same technology used at foreign exchange bureaus worldwide. According to one pirate, these machines are, in turn, purchased from business connections in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
,
Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
, and other areas. Hostages seized by the pirates usually have to wait 45 days or more for the ships' owners to pay the ransom and secure their release. In 2008, there were also allegations that the pirates received assistance from some members of the Somali diaspora. Somali expatriates, including some members of the Somali community in Canada, reportedly offered funds, equipment and information. According to the head of the UN's counter-piracy division, Colonel John Steed, the Al-Shabaab group in 2011 increasingly sought to cooperate with the pirate gangs in the face of dwindling funds and resources for their own activities. Steed, however, acknowledged that he had no definite proof of operational ties between the pirates and the Islamist militants. Detained pirates also indicated to UNODC officials that some measure of cooperation with Al-Shabaab militants was necessary, as they have increasingly launched maritime raids from areas in southern Somalia controlled by the insurgent outfit. Al-Shabaab members have also extorted the pirates, demanding protection money from them and forcing seized pirate gang leaders in Harardhere to hand over 20% of future ransom proceeds. It has been suggested that
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
have received funding from pirate operations. A maritime intelligence source told
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
that it was "'inconceivable' to Western intelligence agencies that al Qaeda would not be getting some financial reward from the successful hijackings". They go on to express concern about this funding link being able to keep the group satisfied, as piracy gains more publicity and higher ransoms.


Root causes

A combination of root causes can be attributed to the pervasive presence of piracy off the coast of Somalia including; geography, weak law enforcement and corruption as well as economic factors. Most of these drivers display considerable overlap just like they can be viewed as derivative effects of land based problems The following section breaks down some of the identified root causes for the pervasiveness of piracy in the region.


Geography

One of the most vital shipping routes of the world takes international trade across the Western Indian Ocean through the Bab el-Mandeb strait connecting the Red Sea with the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
making it the perfect strategic place for pirates to operate. Generally, pirate activities thrive in areas with high value maritime traffic. Thus, geography plays a significant role in making the coast of Somalia a lucrative place for pirates to hijack vessels. In this context, the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
is one of the most lucrative places for piracy in the world, because of its close proximity to the main merchant shipping route. More than 20% of global trade passes through the Gulf of Aden. The region is characterized by a diverse geography including one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints, the Bab-el Mandeb strait as well as wide-open ocean off the coast of Somalia. The area had earlier been designated as a high risk area in 2010 during the peak of pirate attacks but this designation was removed again from 2023 as the level of attacks declined.


Economic factors

Given that the piracy in the area is a fundamentally profit-driven activity, economic factors also play a huge role in explaining the root causes. This is due to myriad factors such as socioeconomic factors, unemployment, a lack of viable economic alternatives to piracy, and the emission of toxic waste by foreign companies causing the fishing industry as a source of income to crumble. In general, the economy of Somalia is classified as a least developed country, being dependent on agriculture and livestock which is challenged by the harsh climate and poor soil. Furthermore, as a result of civil unrest, the Somali economy was destroyed. Piracy is often linked to insecurity on land and caused by lack of other opportunities to make a living. This has also been the case in Somalia, where especially incomes from fishing have drastically declined. Therefore, piracy creates an alternative economic opportunity to improve the living conditions due to the possibility of striking a good ransom deal. In essence, elements of poverty, lack of education and unemployment are viewed as main drivers. The combination of high unemployment and the decline in the possibility of making a living from fishing creates the incentives to make a profit from piracy which is often associated with large sums of money. In a country where poverty is rampant, piracy offers an alternative way to make a living, which attracts young Somali men.


Weak law enforcement and corruption

Somalia was ranked the most corrupt country in the world in 2023. Corrupt actors can help facilitate the piracy activities by turning a blind eye to or providing means for the pirates to operate and thereby also taking share in the multimillion-dollar business. This occurs as a result of Somalia being a failed state leading to weak law enforcement and an ineffective government. The access to information regarding the level of security on board of the vessels as well as the general ship information is of high value to the pirates making bribery of port and government officials essential. Furthermore, according to Bueger & Edmunds, studies of piracy operations in Somalia show that laundering of profits, protecting from other criminals and supplying and recruitment are among the elements pirates depend on The weak law enforcement occurs as a result of the last decades instability and civil unrest. Moreover, the general lawlessness which has pervaded the region can be seen as a result of the absence of a central authority. The inability to control the maritime territory and perform security tasks left the 3,330 km coastline of Somalia unpatrolled, giving rise to several forms of blue crimes. Furthermore, the lack of patrolling and thereby control over the Somali territorial waters entailed the illegal fishing and plundering of Somalis fish stocks by foreign fishing ships. The insufficient and absent response from the authorities to both illegal fishing by foreign ships and the dumping of toxic waste forced the Somali fishermen to take up arms against the foreign ships. From here piracy evolved from charging smaller amounts from illegal trawlers as a way of concealing their illegal activities to more extensive piracy including hostage taking. Overall, the weak law enforcement capacity, ineffective government and level of corruption all contribute to the enabling of piracy activities in the region.


Cultural acceptability and legitimation

In continuation of the actions from the local coastal communities and fishermen against the illegal fishing by foreign fishers the element of cultural acceptability and legitimation also plays a significant role. In 2009, the UN estimated that $300 million worth of seafood from Somalia is illegally fished by foreign actors each year. The cultural acceptability of piracy in Somali coastal communities stems from the perception of the actions taken against the external actors in the Somali water as legitimate. Since the illegal fishing and pollution crimes by foreign ships has increased the economic hardship and destroyed the livelihood of fishermen, this justified the actions against the foreign ships committed by the local fishermen.


Effects and perceptions


Costs

Significant negative effects of piracy have been reported. In 2005, a liquefied petroleum tanker, MS ''Feisty Gas'', was hijacked and ransomed for $315,000 after being held for about two weeks. In 2009, pirate income derived from ransoms was estimated at 42.1 million euros (about $58 million), rising to $238 million in 2010. The average ransom had risen to $5.4 million in 2010, up from around $150,000 in 2005. However, by 2011, pirate ransom income dropped to $160 million, a downward trend which has been attributed to intensified counter-piracy efforts. Besides the actual cost of paying ransoms, various attempts have been made at gauging indirect costs stemming from the piracy; especially those reportedly incurred over the course of anti-piracy initiatives.Tim Besley, et al
''One Kind of Lawlessness: Estimating the Welfare Cost of Somali Piracy''
''Besley et al.'', June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012
During the height of the piracy phenomenon in 2008, local residents complained that the presence of so many armed men made them feel insecure and that their free spending ways caused wild fluctuations in the local
exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
. Others faulted them for excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and
khat Khat (''Catha edulis''), also known as Bushman's tea, especially in South Africa, is a flowering plant native to eastern and southeastern Africa. It has a history of cultivation originating in the Harar area (present day eastern Ethiopia) and ...
. A 2010 report suggested that piracy off the coast of Somalia led to a decrease of revenue for
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
as fewer ships use the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
(estimated loss of about $642 million), impeded trade with neighboring countries, and negatively impacted tourism and fishing in the
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...
.Anna Bowden, et al
''The Economic Cost of Maritime Piracy''
p. 13. ''One Earth Future'', December 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2011
According to Sky News, around 50% of the world's containers passed through the Horn of Africa coastline as of 2012. The European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) has a yearly budget of over 8 million Euros earmarked for patrolling the . A 2011 report by Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) suggested that the indirect costs of piracy were much higher and estimated to be between $6.6 to $6.9 billion, as they also included insurance, naval support, legal proceedings, re-routing of slower ships, and individual protective steps taken by ship-owners. Another report from 2011 published by the consultancy firm Geopolicity Inc. investigated the causes and consequences of international piracy, with a particular focus on such activity off the coast of Somalia. The paper asserted that what began as an attempt in the mid-1990s by Somali fishermen to protect their territorial waters has extended far beyond their seaboard and grown into an emerging market in its own right. Due to potentially substantial financial rewards, the report hypothesized that the number of new pirates could swell by 400 persons annually, that pirate ransom income could in turn rise to $400 million per year by 2015, and that piracy costs as a whole could increase to $15 billion over the same period. In 2011 alone, it has been estimated that MAERSK, the world's largest shipping company, incurred costs upwards of $200 million. To help combat this, the company introduced a 'piracy risk surcharge', ranging from $110-$170 per 40 ft equivalent unit. According to a 2012 investigative piece by the Somalia Report, the OBP paper and other similar reports that attempt to calibrate the global cost of piracy produce inaccurate estimates based on a variety of factors. Most saliently, instead of comparing the actual costs of piracy with the considerable benefits derived from the phenomenon by the maritime industry and local parties capitalizing on capacity-building initiatives, the OBP paper conflated the alleged piracy costs with the large premiums made by insurance companies and lumped them together with governmental and societal costs. The report also exaggerated the impact that piracy has had on the shipping sector, an industry which has grown steadily in size from 25,000 billion tonnes/miles to 35,000 billion tonnes/miles since the rise of Indian Ocean piracy in 2005. Moreover, the global costs of piracy reportedly represent a small fraction of total maritime shipping expenses and are significantly lower than more routine costs, such as those brought on by port theft, bad weather conditions or fuel-related issues. In the United States alone, the National Cargo Security Council estimated that between $10–$15 billion were stolen from ports in 2003, a figure several times higher than the projected global cost of piracy. Additionally, while the OBP paper alleged that pirate activity has had a significantly negative impact on regional economies, particularly the Kenyan tourism industry, tourist-derived revenue in Kenya rose by 32% in 2011. According to the Somalia Report investigation, the OBP paper also did not factor into its calculations the overall decline in successful pirate attacks beginning in the second half of 2011, a downward trend largely brought about by the increasing use of armed guards. According to Admiral Terence E. McKnight, ransom demands and payments have risen exponentially and the financers and pirates decided they are willing to wait as long as it takes to receive "high seven-figure payouts".


Benefits

Some benefits from the piracy have also been noted. In the earlier years of the phenomenon in 2008, it was reported that some local residents in pirate hubs such as Harardhere appreciated the rejuvenating effect that the pirates' on-shore spending and restocking had on their small towns, a presence which often provided jobs and opportunity when there were comparatively fewer. Entire hamlets were in the process reportedly transformed into boomtowns, with local shop owners and other residents using their gains to purchase items such as Electrical generator, generators for uninterrupted electricity. However, the election of a new administration in 2009 in the northeastern
Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...
region saw a sharp decrease in pirate operations, as the provincial authorities launched a comprehensive anti-piracy campaign and established an official maritime police force (PMPF). Since 2010, pirates have mainly operated from the Galmudug region to the south. According to the Somalia Report, the significant infrastructural development evident in Puntland's urban centers has also mainly come from a combination of government development programs, internal investment by local residents returning to their home regions following the civil war in the south, and especially remittance funds sent by the sizable Somali diaspora. The latter contributions have been estimated at $1.3–$2 billion a year, exponentially dwarfing pirate ransom proceeds, which total only a few million dollars annually and are difficult to track in terms of spending. Additionally, impoverished fishermen in Kenya's Malindi area in the southeastern African Great Lakes region have reported their largest catches in 40 years, catching hundreds of kilos of fish and earning 50 times the average daily wage as a result. They attribute the recent abundance and variety of marine stock to the pirates scaring away foreign fishing trawlers, which have for decades deprived local
dhow Dhow (; ) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels ...
s of a livelihood. According to marine biologists, indicators are that the local fishery is recovering because of the lack of commercial-scale fishing. Piracy off the coast of Somalia also appears to have a positive impact on the problem of overfishing in Somali waters by foreign vessels. A comparison has been made with the situation in Tanzania further to the south, which is also affected by fishing by foreign ships and generally lacks the means to effectively protect and regulate its territorial waters. There, catches have dropped to dramatically low levels, whereas in Somalia they have risen back to more acceptable levels since the beginning of the piracy.


Casualties

Of the 4,185 seafarers whose ships had been attacked by the pirates and the 1,090 who were held hostage in 2010, a third were reportedly abused. Some captives have also indicated that they were used as human shields for pirate attacks while being held hostage. According to Reuters, of the 3,500 captured during a four-year period, 62 died. The causes of death included suicide and malnutrition, with 25 of the deaths attributed to murder according to International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners, Intercargo. In some cases, the captives have also reported being tortured. Multiple seafarers are left traumatized after release. According to multiple interviewed maritime security firms, ship owner groups, lawyers and insurance companies, fear of pirate attacks has increased the likelihood of violent encounters at sea, as untrained or overeager vessel guards have resorted to shooting indiscriminately without first properly assessing the actual threat level. In the process, they have killed both pirates and sometimes innocent fishermen, as well as jeopardizing the reputation of private maritime security firms with their reckless gun use. Since some of the new maritime security companies that have emerged often also enlist the services of off-duty policemen and former soldiers who saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, worries of a "Nisour Square massacre, Blackwater out in the Indian Ocean" have only intensified.


Profiteers

According to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), a veritable industry of profiteers has also risen around the piracy. Insurance companies, in particular, have profited from the pirate attacks, as insurance premiums have increased significantly. DIW reports that, in order to keep premiums high, insurance firms have not demanded that ship owners take security precautions that would make hijackings more difficult. For their part, shipping companies often ignore naval guidelines on how best to prevent pirate attacks in order to cut down on costs. In addition, security contractors and the arms industry have profited from the phenomenon.


Sovereignty and environmental protection

The former UN envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has stated that "because there is no (effective) government, there is ... much irregular fishing from European and Asian countries," and that the UN has reliable information that European and Asian companies are dumping Toxic waste, toxic and Radioactive waste, nuclear waste off the Somali coastline. However, he stresses that "no government has endorsed this act, and that private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible". In addition, Ould-Abdallah told the press that he approached several international NGOs, such as Global Witness, to trace the illicit fishing and waste-dumping. He added that he believes the toxic waste dumping is "a disaster off the Somali coast, a disaster (for) the Somali environment, the Somali population", and that what he terms "this illegal fishing, illegal dumping of waste" helps fuel the civil war in Somalia since the illegal foreign fishermen pay off corrupt local officials or warlords for protection or to secure counterfeit licenses. Ould-Abdallah noted that piracy will not prevent waste dumping: Somali pirates which captured MV Faina, MV ''Faina'', a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and declared that the $8m ransom for the return of the ship will go towards cleaning up the waste. The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates said. "The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas." Former African Union Chairperson of the African Union, chairman and History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi, Muammar al-Gaddafi argued that piracy; "[is] a response to greedy Western nations, who invade and exploit Somalia's water resources illegally...[it] is not a piracy, it is self defence." Pirate leader Sugule Ali said their motive was "to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters ... We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas." According to Johann Hari, the independent Somali news-site WardherNews found that 70 percent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country's territorial waters".


Waste dumping

Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, allegations have emerged that after the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in late 1991, Somalia's long, remote shoreline was used as a dump site for the disposal of toxic waste. The huge waves which battered northern Somalia after the tsunami are believed to have stirred up tonnes of nuclear and toxic waste that was illegally dumped in Somali waters by several European firms – front companies created by the Italian mafia. The European Green Party followed up these revelations by presenting before the press and the European Parliament in Strasbourg copies of contracts signed by two European companies—the Italian Swiss firm, Achair Partners, and an Italian waste broker, Progresso—and representatives of the warlords then in power, to accept 10 million tonnes of toxic waste in exchange for $80 million (then about £60 million). According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment mission, there are far higher than normal cases of respiratory infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding, abdominal hemorrhages and unusual skin infections among a number of inhabitants of the areas around the northeastern towns of Hobyo, Hobbio and Benadir on the Indian Ocean coast. UNEP continues that the current situation along the Somali coastline poses a serious environmental hazard not only in Somalia but also in the eastern Africa sub-region. Under Article 9(1)(d) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, it is illegal for "any transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes: that results in deliberate disposal (e.g. dumping) of hazardous wastes or other wastes in contravention of this Convention and of general principles of international law". According to Nick Nuttall of the United Nations Environmental Programme, "Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there", and "European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are closer to $1000 per tonne."United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP
The Environment in the News, 16 Mar 2005


Illegal fishing

At the same time, foreign trawlers began illegally fishing Somalia's seas, with an estimated $300 million of tuna, shrimp, and lobster being taken each year, depleting stocks previously available to local fishermen. Through interception with speedboats, Somali fishermen tried to either dissuade the dumpers and trawlers or levy a "tax" on them as compensation, as Segule Ali's previously mentioned quote notes. Peter Lehr, a Somalia piracy expert at the University of St. Andrews, says "It's almost like a resource swap", Somalis collect up to $100 million a year from pirate ransoms off their coasts and the Europeans and Asians poach around $300 million a year in fish from Somali waters. The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) issued a report in 2005 stating that, between 2003 and 2004, Somalia lost about $100 million in revenue due to illegal tuna and shrimp fishing in the country's exclusive economic zone by foreign trawlers. In an effort to curb illegal fishing the Federal Government of Somalia introduced new legislation in December 2014 which banned bottom trawling by domestic and foreign vessels, made all prior licenses null and void, and reserved the first 24 nm of Somali waters for Somali fishers. Foreign fishing vessels caught an estimate 92,500 mt of fish in 2014, almost twice that caught by the Somali domestic fleet. Iran (48%) and Yemen (31%) accounted for the vast majority of foreign fish catch in the most recent year of analysis. According to Roger Middleton of Chatham House, "The problem of overfishing and illegal fishing in Somali waters is a very serious one, and does affect the livelihoods of people inside Somalia [...] the dumping of toxic waste on Somalia's shores is a very serious issue, which will continue to affect people in Somalia long after the war has ended, and piracy is resolved". To lure fish to their traps, foreign trawlers reportedly also use fishing equipment under prohibition such as nets with small mesh sizes and sophisticated underwater lighting systems. Under Article 56(1)(b)(iii) of the Law of the Sea Convention:
"In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State has jurisdiction as provided for in the relevant provisions of this Convention with regard to the protection and preservation of the marine environment".
Article 57 of the Convention in turn outlines the limit of that jurisdiction:
"The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured".
According to Amedeo Policante, a researcher from Goldsmiths College, University of London: "The devastating effect of these types of corporate-led form of capital accumulation cannot be overstated in a region where, according to the most recent reports of the UNEP, over 30 million people are dependent on maritime and coastal resources for their daily livelihoods. Nevertheless, there was little or no international will to insist on the implementation of the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, which banish both over-fishing and toxic dumping in oceanic waters. This form of illegality – despite the environmental disruption and the high cost in human life it implied – was not perceived as an existential threat by states and it was therefore left unchecked. Only when piracy appeared in the region the lack of effective sovereign control over the Gulf of Aden was problematized".


Anti-piracy measures

As of 2013, four international naval task forces operated in the region, with multiple national vessels and task forces entering and leaving the region, engaging in counter-piracy operations for various lengths of time. The three international task forces which compose the bulk of counter-piracy operations are Combined Task Force 150 (whose overarching mission is Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa, Operation Enduring Freedom), CTF 151, Combined Task Force 151 (which was set up in 2009 specifically to run counter-piracy operations), the EU naval task force operating under
Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the ...
and the SADC naval task force operating under Operation Copper. All counter-piracy operations are coordinated through a monthly planning conference called Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE). Originally having representatives only from NATO, the EU, and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) HQ in Bahrain, it now regularly attracts representatives from over 20 countries. Between 2009 and 2010, the government of the autonomous
Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...
region in northeastern Somalia enacted a number of reforms and pre-emptive measures as a part of its officially declared anti-piracy campaign. In May 2010, construction also began on a new naval base in the town of Bandar Siyada, located 25 km west of Bosaso, the commercial capital of Puntland. These security measures appear to have borne fruit, as a number of pirates were apprehended in 2010, including a prominent leader. Puntland's security forces also reportedly managed to force out the pirate gangs from their traditional safe havens such as Eyl and Gar'ad, with the pirates now primarily operating from Hobyo, El Danaan and Harardhere in the neighboring
Galmudug Galmudug (; ), officially Galmudug State of Somalia (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in central Somalia, with its capital at Dhusamareb. It is bordered to the north by the Puntland state of Somalia, to the west by the S ...
region. Government officials from the
Galmudug Galmudug (; ), officially Galmudug State of Somalia (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in central Somalia, with its capital at Dhusamareb. It is bordered to the north by the Puntland state of Somalia, to the west by the S ...
administration in the north-central Hobyo district have also reportedly attempted to use pirate gangs as a bulwark against Islamist insurgents from southern Somalia's conflict zones; other pirates are alleged to have reached agreements of their own with the Islamist groups, although a senior commander from the Hizbul Islam militia vowed to eradicate piracy by imposing sharia law when his group briefly took control of Harardhere in May 2010 and drove out the local pirates. By the first half of 2010, these increased policing efforts by Somali government authorities on land along with international naval vessels at sea reportedly contributed to a drop in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden from 86 a year prior to 33, forcing pirates to shift attention to other areas such as the Somali Basin and the wider Indian Ocean. The government of Somaliland has adopted stringent anti-piracy measures, arresting and imprisoning pirates forced to make port in Berbera. In addition to naval patrolling and marine capacity building, the shipping industry implemented Best Management Practices (BMP) in the Piracy High Risk Area (HRA), a maritime area bounded by the Suez and the Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy began participation in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden/Horn of Africa, off the Somalian coast, in December 2008; this was the first time that the modern Chinese navy was deployed to an operational mission outside of China's claimed territorial waters. In 2017, China officially opened its Chinese People's Liberation Army Support Base in Djibouti, first overseas military base in
Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
; the base is used for anti-piracy operations, as well as unrelated Chinese efforts aimed at "intelligence collection, non-combat evacuation operations, peacekeeping operation support, and counterterrorism."


Trials

In May 2010, a Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death and jailed six others for 10 years each, for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker, killing one cabin crew member and leaving another missing in April 2009. In May 2010, another Somali, Abduwali Muse, pleaded guilty in a United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, New York federal court to seizing a United States-flagged ship ''Maersk Alabama'' and kidnapping its captain and was sentenced to 33 years imprisonment. The first European trial of alleged Somali pirates opened in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in May 2010. They were arrested in the Gulf of Aden in January 2009, when their high-speed boat was intercepted by a Danish frigate while allegedly preparing to board the cargo ship ''Samanyolu'', which was registered in the Netherlands Antilles, Dutch Antilles. The pirates were sentenced to five years in prison, which was less than the maximum possible sentence. It is unlikely the men will be returned to Somalia after their sentence, as Somalia is considered too dangerous for deportation. One of the five has already applied for right of asylum, asylum in the Netherlands. Consequently, there are concerns that trials in European courts would encourage, rather than deter, pirates. However, trials are continuing in Europe. More recently in Paris, November 2011, five men were sentenced to between four and eight years; one man was acquitted. A trial was also held in Hamburg for ten Somali pirates who had hijacked the freighter ''Taipan'' in 2010. They were found guilty in 2012 and sentenced to 6–7 years in prison with reduced time for the Juvenile delinquency, juveniles among them. After release, five left Germany, the others filed for asylum. In Italy, nine Somali pirates had been tried and sentenced to prison terms of 16 and 19 years. They had been found guilty of attempted kidnapping for extortion and illegal possession of firearms, in connection with 10 October 2011 attack and seizure of an Italian-owned cargo vessel, the Montecristo. On 1 April 2010, was on patrol off the Somali coast when it took fire from men in a small skiff. After chasing down the skiff and its mothership, US military captured five Somalis. Judge Raymond Alvin Jackson, Raymond A. Jackson, a United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Federal District Court judge in Norfolk, Virginia threw out the piracy charge, which dates from enactment in 1819 when piracy was defined only as robbery at sea. The penalty for piracy is mandatory life in prison. The U.S. government appealed the ruling. In March 2011 the five Somalis were sentenced to life for piracy to run consecutively with the 80-year term. In the same month 13 Somalis and one Yemeni suspected of hijacking and killing four Americans aboard a yacht made their first appearance in federal court in Norfolk. On 28 January 2011, pursuant to the naval engagement of the pirate mother vessel MV ''Prantalay'' (a hijacked Thai trawler) by Car Nicobar-class fast attack craft INS ''Cankarso'', the
Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...
and the
Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and Exclusive economic zone of India, exclusive economic zone. It was st ...
killed 10 pirates and apprehended 15, while rescuing 20 Thai and Burmese fishermen that were held aboard the ship as hostages. The rescued fishermen were sent to Kochi while the 15 pirates, of Somali, Ethiopian and Kenyan origin, were taken to Mumbai. The Mumbai Police confirmed that they registered a case against the pirates for attempt to murder and various other provisions under the Indian Penal Code and the Passports Act for entering the Indian waters without permission. In May 2012, a U.S. federal appeals court upheld the convictions of five pirates, a decision which prosecutors described as the first United States-based piracy convictions in 190 years. In October 2013, Mohamed Abdi Hassan ("Afweyne") was arrested in Belgium for having allegedly masterminded the 2009 hijacking of the Belgian dredge vessel ''Pompei'', abducted its crew, and participated in a criminal organization. According to federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle, Hassan was responsible for the hijacking of dozens of commercial ships from 2008 to 2013. In March 2016, Hassan was tried in Bruges and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for leading the 2009 hijacking of the ''Pompei.''


See also

* August 2009 Egyptian hostage escape * April 2009 raid off Somalia * 2012 Italian Navy Marines shooting incident in the Laccadive Sea * Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal * CIA's Special Activities Division * Drone strikes in Somalia * Combined Task Force 150 and Combined Task Force 151 coalition force counter-piracy operations in the region. * Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia * International Maritime Bureau * International Maritime Organization *
Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the ...
* Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa * Operation Prosperity Guardian * Red Sea crisis * People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia * Piracy around the Horn of Africa * Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea * Piracy in the Strait of Malacca * Piracy on Falcon Lake * Pirate Round * Ship Security Alert System


References


Further reading

* Mohamed Haji Ingiriis: ''The History of Somali Piracy: From Classical Piracy to Contemporary Piracy, c. 1801-2011''; The Northern Mariner XXIII No. 3, pp. 239–266 (via) Canadian Nautical Research Society, July 2013 ** * Awet Tewelde Weldemichae: ''Piracy in Somali''; Queen's University, Ontario, Canada, 2019 ** * Kelsey McFaul: ''Burcad Badeed as Grounds and Method in'' ''Literary Expression of Somali Piracy''; Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies, 4, pp. 32–51, 2020 ** * Sahnun Ahmed : Somali piracy 2.0 - the BBC meets the new robbers of the high seas; BBC.com, 21 December 2024 **
Alexandre Maouche: Piracy along the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Phenomena within Somalia, June 2011
* Christian Bueger
Learning from Piracy: Future Challenges of Maritime Security Governance, Global Affairs, 1(1), 33–42, 2015
* Stig Jarle Hansen
Piracy in the greater Gulf of Aden, Myths, Misconception and Remedies, NIBR Report 2009:29
Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research
Lorenzo Striuli, La pirateria nel golfo di Aden
Italian Military Center for Strategic Studies report (2009) (In Italian)


Martino Sacchi, Piracy in Somalia: a long term menace or a phenomenon in its last throes?
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2013


External links

*
International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre
International Chamber of Commerce, Commercial Crime Services
Interactive Map, Attacks in 2013
TODAY Online
Somalia Report publishes a weekly piracy report

Piracy Studies A knowledge resource and online bibliography on contemporary maritime piracy

European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta

Website of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia Report including all official documents an papers on lessons from piracy
{{Military of India Piracy in Somalia, Transport in Somalia Gulf of Aden Military operations involving China Military operations involving Iran Military operations involving Japan Military operations involving the United Kingdom Military operations involving the United States Arabian Sea 2000s crimes in Somalia 2010s crimes in Somalia 2005 crimes in Somalia Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Transport in the Arabian Sea Military operations involving India Military history of the Indian Ocean