More Piracy Near Somalia

[davidbfpo]

Short update and then the cost of anti-piracy measures for the shipowners:

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has dropped off dramatically in 2012. Successful ship hijackings have decreased from 31 in 2011 (and 49 in 2010) to only four so far in 2012. Attacks against ships have also decreased, falling from 199 reported attacks in the first nine months of 2011 to 70 attacks over the same span in 2012 -- a 65 percent drop. However, diminished activity does not necessarily mean a decrease in the cost of sailing around the Horn of Africa.

Armed guards:

the widespread deployment of armed guards beginning in 2011 (guards had been used sparingly as far back as 2008) has a very close correlation to the recent decrease in hijackings. In late 2009, only about 10-20 percent of commercial ships sailing through waters where Somali pirates operate carried guards; today, some estimates put the percentage as high as 70 percent. To date, pirates have never successfully hijacked a ship that had armed guards. But it should be noted that, even though the use of armed guards appears to be the most effective countermeasure against piracy, there are other factors at work.

The cost:

...the total annual cost for shipping companies merely to deploy armed guards on their ships through the Gulf of Aden is between about $800 million and $1.4 billion.

Taken from "The Expensive, Diminishing Threat of Somali Piracy is republished with permission of Stratfor":http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/expen...-somali-piracy

[davidbfpo]

A simply bizarre story:

the quasi-government of Puntland has confirmed that security forces impounded a North Korea-Flagged vessel, M.V. Daesan, for dumping materials, including cement, near the coast of the Puntland port city of Bossaso, the radio adds...was seized 13 nautical miles east of Bossaso as it was in the process of unloading some 5,000 metric tonnes of cement. The Puntland authorities have condemned the illegal and environmentally destructive practice by the ship-owners.

Link:http://www.nknews.org/2012/11/north-...uck-in-somali/

[davidbfpo]

The Panama-flagged MV Iceberg One was seized off the Yemeni coast in 2009, and was being held near Gara'ad village on the coast in Mudug region when Puntland's maritime troops surrounded it on 10 December.

In their statement, the Puntland authorities said their troops fought the pirates for two weeks before safely rescuing all 22 hostages on board the ship.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20832401

At last! I have m' doubts about a long fight, more likely a cordon and talk. Note no reference to any prisoners being taken.

[carl]

Thanks for keeping us posted on this David. It is unusual that all the surviving crewmen seem to have been rescued yet some of the pirates were killed. Good job I guess.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to Lowy Institute's 'The Interpreter' for this Australian news item (behind a paywall) 'Glencore chief Simon Murray launches private navy to combat Somali pirate threat':

This private navy will use a 10,000-ton mother ship, high-speed armoured patrol boats, '240 former marines and sailors' and one former Royal Navy commodore to provide security to oil tankers and bulk carriers as they traverse the piracy plagued Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Murray insists that this is more cost effective than using sovereign warships to patrol the waters off Somalia.

The blog post ends with:

Typhon is sailing into a deep legal fog. Presumably the company is investigating these issues, though it has made no public statements on the subject (and it does not appear to have a website). One thing is certain; Typhon had better have a very good lawyer on speed dial.

Link:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...vate-navy.aspx

Not to overlook:

There has been no successful hijacking since June 2012, when a fishing dhow was seized, according to data from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Link:http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/42...n-glencore.htm

[davidbfpo]

From FP's Situation Report:

Piracy has plummeted off the coast of Somalia.

Citing Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs: "This multi-pronged strategy has led to results...We're seeing more pirates prosecuted, fewer ships being attacked, the statistics are striking."

According to the (US) Navy, there has been a 75 percent decline in overall pirate attacks in 2012 over the year before. And the number of attacks in 2011 were half that what they were in 2010. Independent sources (for) Last year, pirates captured 10 vessels, compared to 34 in 2011 and 68 in 2010...and the last successful attack of a commercial vessel was in May of last year. In January 2011, pirates held 31 ships and 710 hostages; today, pirates are holding four ships and 108 hostages.

Despite fears that putting armed guards on ships would create a Wild West, cowboys-at-sea climate, violence has not increased significantly....Once the pirates realize that many ships are a "hard target," they refrain from attacking it, he said. Shapiro also said he was impressed also with the discipline that many commercial vessels exhibit when it comes to using weapons.

Building up indigenous ground forces has also helped. What has really thwarted pirate networks is a ground force known as the Puntland Maritime Police Force, according to an expert who has worked on the ground in Somalia.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to a "lurker" who recommends this update via CNN:http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn....i-piracy-over/

It ends with:

For now, Somalia remains fragile, meaning piracy could remain the most visible outgrowth of chronic economic and political instability onshore. The question the international community now faces is how willing is it to continue applying billion dollar band aids that temporarily mitigate, but do not truly eliminate, the threat.