More Piracy Near Somalia

[Jedburgh]

Popular Mechanics, 29 Sep 08: 4 Fronts for Pirate-Navy Battle as U.S. Descends on Captured Ship

....From ramshackle beginnings four years ago, Somali piracy has evolved into a lucrative industry, reportedly bringing in 10 times as much cash as the country’s once-thriving fishing industry. But after a year in which pirates operated with near impunity and seized nearly 60 ships for around $1 million ransom each, the international community is finally taking action by assembling a sophisticated naval force to fight back.

The fate of the Faina remains to be seen, with its captain already dead, a $20 million ransom in negotiations and would-be rescue ships awaiting orders and continuing to monitor the situation. But two high-tech and highly successful engagements so far this year—in addition to several others featuring robotic arsenals—might provide an attack plan that could finally begin to shut down the reinforced band of pirates.....

[Jedburgh]

Chatham House, 1 Oct 08: Piracy in Somalia: Threatening Global Trade, Feeding Local Wars

Summary points

- Piracy off the coast of Somalia has more than doubled in 2008; so far over 60 ships have been attacked. Pirates are regularly demanding and receiving million-dollar ransom payments and are becoming more aggressive and assertive.

- The international community must be aware of the danger that Somali pirates could become agents of international terrorist networks. Already money from ransoms is helping to pay for the war in Somalia, including funds to the US terror-listed Al-Shabaab.

- The high level of piracy is making aid deliveries to drought-stricken Somalia ever more difficult and costly. The World Food Programme has already been forced to temporarily suspend food deliveries. Canada is now escorting WFP deliveries but there are no plans in place to replace their escort when it finishes later this year.

- The danger and cost of piracy (insurance premiums for the Gulf of Aden have increased tenfold) mean that shipping could be forced to avoid the Gulf of Aden/Suez Canal and divert around the Cape of Good Hope. This would add considerably to the costs of manufactured goods and oil from Asia and the Middle East. At a time of high inflationary pressures, this should be of grave concern.

- Piracy could cause a major environmental disaster in the Gulf of Aden if a tanker is sunk or run aground or set on fire. The use of ever more powerful weaponry makes this increasingly likely.

- There are a number of options for the international community but ignoring the problem is not one of them. It must ensure that WFP deliveries are protected and that gaps in supply do not occur.

Complete 12-page paper at the link.

[Entropy]

Cavguy,

In all seriousness, why isn't the US Navy out there cracking down on the Pirates? I've seen more action out of the Dutch/French than the USN, which strikes me as odd.

We're the largest, and the Royal Navy ended lots of piracy in the 1600's/1700's.

While the navy is contributing in Iraq, it's pretty hard to send a AGEIS crusier up the Tigris, so what are they doing to end this threat to one of their core tasks (freedom of the seas)?

There are a couple of factors at play, IMO:

1. Competing priorities. Anti-piracy is only one of CTF-150's missions. Now that these pirates are more on the headlines and now that their activities have increased, we'll probably see a bigger response.

2. International Law. Even though Somalia doesn't have a central government, the US Navy still has to respect Somali territorial waters, which extend 12nm from the coast. A recent UN decision apparently has provided some kind of authorization to pursue inside TTW, but the wording wasn't particularly clear and AFAIK the lawyers are still trying to figure out what the coalition can and can't do. The Navy is pretty sensitive about the TTW issue and has spent a lot of time enforcing the legal TTW limits, so it's doesn't like to turn around and violate TTW's willy-nilly.

3. International law part Deux. There are limits on the use of force and, unfortunately, it's not like the old days where pirates could be sunk or captured and killed on both sight and site on the authority of a ship's captain. As I understand it (maybe Lawvol can pipe up here), we can only engage them if they are in the process of committing an act of piracy. Of course if a US or coalition ship is nearby, they don't commit any such acts.

4. International law part tres: There is general reluctance to capture these pirates (especially by the Europeans) because then you have to figure out what to do with them. There's no Somali government to turn them over to and my reading of the law is that they must be tried in the country that captured them if taken on the high sea (international waters). I think the problems grow if they're captured in Somali TTW since that is considered Somali territory (assuming, of course, that the lawyers give that a green light). This is a headache because of asylum and evidentiary issues, particularly for the Europeans. They always have the defense (which they've used before) of being the Somali "coast guard" under the authority of some warlord.

5. It's a big ocean. There are only a literal handful of ships (6-8 usually) in CTF-150 and their AO includes all of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, all of the Arabian sea out to Pakistan and then down the coast to Kenya. That's a lot of water for that many ships.

So what the pirates do is head out, stay in or near their TTW and look for good targets of opportunity. They have a general idea of where coalition ships are, so they can capture the targeted ship and get it back inside Somali TTW before a coalition warship can stop them.

Personally, what I would do is apply a navalized version of SBW to this problem. Load a few "bait" merchant vessels with some Marines then present said ship as a juicy target. When the pirates come, they all get killed trying to board by the Marines who are simply, for ROE purposes, utilizing the inherent right to self defense (a rare opportunity for us to exploit our own ROE! ). If the pirate mother ship is close enough we can capture it, or, better yet, station an SSN nearby to take the mothership out completely with a torpedo or anti-ship missile. Take out a few score of pirates and the rest will be more cautious, at least for a while.

Of course I'm sure there's some legal inhibition and there would probably be protest from all the usual suspects, but we can still dream.

[Stan]

Personally, what I would do is apply a navalized version of SBW to this problem. Load a few "bait" merchant vessels with some Marines then present said ship as a juicy target. When the pirates come, they all get killed trying to board by the Marines who are simply, for ROE purposes, utilizing the inherent right to self defense (a rare opportunity for us to exploit our own ROE! ). If the pirate mother ship is close enough we can capture it, or, better yet, station an SSN nearby to take the mothership out completely with a torpedo or anti-ship missile. Take out a few score of pirates and the rest will be more cautious, at least for a while.

Of course I'm sure there's some legal inhibition and there would probably be protest from all the usual suspects, but we can still dream.

Not a bad plan ! Looks like some of your avid readers decided to just attack for now

Somali pirates die in fighting with Puntland forces

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Forces from the Somali breakaway region of Puntland on Sunday attacked pirates holding a Somali cargo freighter, triggering clashes that killed two pirates and a soldier, an official said.

Four others, including another Puntland soldier, were wounded when the forces attempted to rescue MV Awail, owned by a Somali trading company with a crew of 13 Syrians and two Somalis, which was seize Thursday off the region's shores.

The fighting comes amid mounting pressure over piracy in the waters around Somalia, with US and international navies blockading a kidnapped Ukrainian vessel loaded with tanks and weapons.

"They surrounded the (Somali) ship this morning near Hafun area, where they exchanged fire with pirates killing two of them. One of our men also died," said Muse Gelle Yusuf, governor of Puntland's Bari region.

"We are expecting that forces will manage to free the ship in a few hours because the pirates on board are few and they have been besieged."