Pirates Affect Merchant Shipping
The pirate trade has made a come-back and is thought to cost the merchant shipping industry well over £10 billion every year. Hijackings of merchant ships and vessels carrying food aid have become targets with attacks mainly taking place in the waters of The Gulf of Aden and South China Sea.
According to some reports the rise in hijackings has come about due to a depressed fishing industry in Somalia. However, some people from Somalia where the problem is particularly prevalent suggest it’s a reaction by the people to protect their waters since the breakdown of its government. As a result a coalition called Combined Task Force 150 and 151 has been created to fight against the pirates. The task force is mainly comprised of EU countries, but also US, Canada and India.
Since 2005 the attacks have become more frequent and violent with a chinese sailor being killed in 2009 because his ransom was not met. About 30,000 vessels pass by means of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean area with over 100 attacks taking place each year.
One notable attack took place in April 2009 when the Maersk Alabama carrying various cargo and relief for Somalia was hijacked resulting in the crew being held. Consequently, US Navy Seal snipers were called in and were successful in killing 3 of the pirates freeing the hostages. Many of the hijackings fetch ransoms in excess of $2 million US. This is obviously a very lucrative form of revenue generation for pirates which has contributed to the increasing amount of attacks. Most of the pirates are made up of men aged from 20-35 and were previously either ex-militia or fishermen from Puntaland, Somalia.
Their general technique of hijacking involves attacking ships using a skin casef which is a type boat used by local fishermen with powerful motorboat engines that can reach up to 25 knots. The ships they target have low freeboards, this allows the pirates to use ladders to board. The pirates are generally organised using motherships for fuel and supplies, so they can stay at sea longer. They use formidable weaponry comprising of automatic machine guns and even RPG war heads.
Another area which is sprouting particularly violent piracy is Nigeria. This country is the 8th biggest producer of oil in the world. Lots of major corporations operate in Nigeria with well over 100,000 foreign workers working in the oil industry. Over 100 foreign workers are kidnapped every year and many ships in the area are hijacked by pirates. One of the main problems is that the ports are so busy that many ships lay in quarantine anchorage for weeks waiting to unload their cargo. This means they are sitting ducks for pirates.
The problem with policing the pirates is that they operate over such a large area it can take months for a single ship to cover its patrol area. Also the pirates use small, fast and manoeuvrable boats that are disguised as fishing boats which makes them hard to spot. This relatively new crime wave currently shows no sign as allowting up.
One industry is benefitting from the pirates activities and that is the marine insurance sector with many exporters having to take on extra cover to protect their vessels and cargo. As well as this security forces are even being employed to protect ships this puts lives at risk and escalates the severity of any situation.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cruising-articles/pirates-affect-merchant-shipping-5581666.html
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