Somali PiratesSomali pirates gained the attention of the world, especially the United States, on April 8, 2009 when they commandeered a US operated carrier and kidnapped the crew abroad. However, these regional pirates are not a new threat to the seas near Somalia. In fact they have been busy robbing foreign ships for years of the coast of Somalia. Now there are many questions that the world has about these modern day pirates. So, I’ve compiled this information to help my visitors understand more about this mysterious group of bandits. Who are they? Most are former Somali fisherman? Fishermen? Yes. You see these men have the specialized knowledge of the local waters needed to attack foreign ships, rob them, and quickly escape the area. There’s more to this story. These fishermen argue that large numbers of foreign ships entering waters near Somalia have both polluted the sea and overfished, leaving local fishermen jobless. So, they see pirating as both retribution and their civic duty to take back from the foreigners who have caused them to lose their livelihood. I disagree with this argument and see it as a sorry excuse to rob and terrorize. Other pirates are former Somalia soldiers who fought in civil wars which occurred during the 1990’s. This would explain some of the highly planned attacks carried out by heavy armed pirates in the past. For example, some of the pirates have been reported to have been armed with 50 caliber machine guns and commandeered the vessels by parachuting abroad. What are these pirates capable of? Reports show that they have been involved in hijackings of foreign carriers from the United States, China, India, South Korea, and Greece. Many of the companies from these countries have paid out large ransoms for the safe return of their crew and vessels. For example, during 2008 the pirates are reported to have received up to $150 million dollars in paid ransoms. As stated above, many of the pirates have prior military training, weaponry, and equipment. Examples include GPS devices, rocket launchers, and automatic weapons. When did the pirates begin attacking? Well piracy has existed for years but pirates from Somalia are believed to have increased activity around the 1990’s. This was about the same time after a large civil war in Somalia which destroyed the government. Afterwards, there was lawlessness, lack of law and order, and even higher unemployment. About this time thugs took to the local waters and began pirating foreigner vessels passing thru waters off the coast of Somali. The pirates tend to operate directly of the coast of Somalia near the city of Mogadishu. However, there are reported cases of foreign ships attacked more than 400 miles from the Somalia coast line. Most of the pirates are recruited near Puntland, located in the northeastern region of Somalia. How can foreign vessels protect themselves? Many countries have deployed naval ships to escort their vessels thru the dangerous waters. Other nations have formed coalitions with other nations and agree to protect each others ships in the region. Lastly, economic sanctions and embargos against Somalia have been threatened by many countries that had its vessels attacked by pirates in the past. Unfortunately, many of these actions have not deterred attacks from the pirates.
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