September23, 2008:
The piracy problem in the Gulf
of Aden is attracting the attention of nations dependent on seaborne trade.
That's because the Gulf of Aden is one the busiest shipping lanes in the world
(with nearly ten percent of all traffic). Each month, 1500-1600 ships pass the
northern coast of Somalia. So far this year, 3-4 of those ships have been
seized by pirates each month. That's one ship out of every 400-500. But with
the pirates getting more and more ransom money for each ship, the number of
pirate groups operating in the Gulf of Aden is increasing. It's believed that
at least three fishing trawlers (able to stay out for weeks at a time, and
carry speed boats for attacks) are acting as mother ships for the pirates. Most
merchant ships are wary of pirate operations, and put on extra lookouts, and
often transit the 1,500 kilometer long Gulf of Aden at high speed (even though
this costs them thousands of dollars in additional fuel). The pirates seek the
slower moving, apparently unwary, ships, and go after them before they can
speed up enough to get away. For the pirates, business is booming, and ransoms
are going up. Pirates are now demanding $2-3 million per ship, and are liable
to get it for the much larger tankers and bulk carriers they are now seizing.
There is
already an international naval protection effort; Task Force 150. At least
fifteen warships, and two maritime patrol aircraft have set up a patrolled corridor through the
Gulf of Aden, and advised slower ships to travel in convoys (which will get
extra attention from the warships.) Ships are being warned to transit the Gulf
of Aden carefully. It's the slow moving ships, without sufficient lookouts (the
speedboats are difficult to spot with the radar used by merchant ships) that
are most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the government in Puntland appears to be
intimidated, and/or bought off, by the warlords running the pirate operations
along their coast.
The big
problem is that no one wants to get involved with the Somalis on land. For
centuries, the Somalis have had a reputation for being fearless and relentless
fighters. Media advisors warn that fighting Somalis, who regularly use their
own people as human shields, will expose the sailors to charges of war crimes,
or, at the very least, bad publicity. Thus the prohibitions on firing on the
pirates.
For nearly
two decades now, Somalia has had no central government. The country is a
lawless land where the strong get their way and everyone else suffers. As a
result, nations sending ships to participate in Task Force 150, are doing so
with restrictive ROE (Rules Of Engagement). Some nations forbid their warships
to fire, unless fired upon. Others will not permit their warships to engage in
"hot pursuit" (chasing pirates back to mother ships or coastal
refuges.) The only nations that have been aggressive towards the pirates has
been the United States (which has fired on them several times), and the French
(who have twice used commandos to rescue French citizens being held by the
pirates. But neither of these nations is interested, yet, in raiding coastal
bases of the pirates, or hunting down and destroying the mother ships. Not yet,
anyway.