What Happened To The Somali Pirates?

Hostages and pirates stand with their hands up before the intervention of Dutch NATO soldiers off Somalia’s coast in this NATO handout photo made available April 18, 2009. REUTERS/NATO/Handout

Dan DeLuce, Foreign Policy: Why Is It So Hard to Stop West Africa’s Vicious Pirates?

After vanquishing Somali pirates, the world is looking for a playbook that will work in the Gulf of Guinea.

With little more than skiffs, ladders, and Kalashnikovs, the pirates of Somalia once hijacked giant cargo ships, extracted millions of dollars in ransom, and forced the world’s navies to send warships steaming to the Gulf of Aden. They stole headlines and Hollywood’s imagination as khat-chewing villains in the hit film Captain Phillips.

But after wreaking havoc in the sea lanes off the Horn of Africa, with more than 200 attacks every year at their peak, the once-notorious Somali pirates have virtually vanished. No cargo ship has been successfully hijacked off the coast of Somalia since the spring of 2012. This year, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported only three incidents.

Defeating Somalia’s scourge of piracy required unprecedented cooperation by different navies, efforts to boost stability ashore, and, perhaps most importantly, the use of armed guards on commercial vessels, a radical break with shipping practices and tradition.

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WNU Editor: The pirates are still there .... they are just laying low.

From Pirates To Providing Security For Fish Poachers

Somali Agenda

Garowe/The Telegraph: Somali pirates earn new cash by acting as escorts to the fishing boats they once hijacked

Somali pirates who raked in millions of dollars in ship hijackings have developed a lucrative new racket - acting as armed "escorts" to foreign trawlers that steal the country's fish.

In a striking case of poacher-turned-gamekeeper, the same armed gangs who once preyed on the trawlermen are now acting as their bodyguards, earning huge "protection fees" in return for letting them poach Somalia's rich fishing stocks.

Fisheries experts have warned that many of the fishing vessels are using huge illegal nets, causing potentially enormous damage to the country's marine ecosystem.

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WNU Editor: These fishing trawlers are decimating the fish stocks .... in a country that has a long history of starvation and famine. Talk about short term gain with no vision of the future. And this will only result in more piracy in the future .... Illegal fishing off Somalia 'risks return of piracy' (AFP).

Somali Pirates Are Still Active

EU Flagship in cooperation with Japanese assets, releases crew of Dhow suspected used as pirate mothership (Photo: EUNAVFOR)

First Somali Pirate Attack In 2014 Ends In 5 Arrested -- Oceanus Live

ON SATURDAY 18 January 2014, the French EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship, FS Siroco, in cooperation with Japanese assets, released the crew of a Dhow that was suspected to have been used as pirate mother-ship. The flagship apprehended 5 suspected pirates believed to be responsible for an attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden a day earlier.

The oil tanker issued a distress call to the UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) on the evening of Friday, 17 January, reporting to be under attack. According to the reports, the attack was repelled by a private armed security team embarked on board the oil tanker. The skiff then headed to a dhow which lingered nearby.

The EU Naval Force, in cooperation with other Counter Piracy Forces, reacted quickly to this incident. A Japanese Maritime Patrol Aircraft and a helicopter from the Japanese vessel JS Samidare initially located the dhow. The EU NAVFOR flagship FS Siroco was then able to close distance to the dhow and launch their helicopter and boarding team.

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My Comment: There has not been a successful pirate attack since 2012 .... but they are definitely still active.

Facebook Refuses To Assist The UN In Tracking Suspected Somali Pirates

Photo: Facebook said in a statement that the UN group had no legal authority to demand data from the company. iol

Facebook Spurns U.N. Request For Information On Suspected Pirates In Somalia -- All Facebook

The United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea was highly critical of Facebook in a report, saying that the social network refused its requests for information on the accounts of users suspected of involvement in piracy, and Facebook responded that it was under no legal obligation to comply with those requests.

According to AP, a report by the monitoring group said that while other companies assisted it in investigations of piracy, al-Qaida, and government corruption, Facebook refused to cooperate, adding:

Despite repeated official correspondence addressed to Facebook Inc., it has never responded to monitoring group requests to discuss information on Facebook accounts belonging to individuals involved in hijackings and hostage-taking.

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More News On Facebook Refusing To Assist The UN In Tracking Suspected Somali Pirates

UN asks Facebook for help tracking down Somali pirates. Facebook refuses -- National Post/AP
Facebook Stiff-Arms U.N. Investigators -- Turtle Bay/Foreign Policy
Facebook rebuffs request on Somali pirates -- iol
Somali Pirates Facebook: UN Blasts Social Network For Not Cooperating With Investigations Into Ship Hijackers -- International Digital Times
UN slams Facebook for helping pirates -- Tech Eye
Facebook Refuses to Hand Over Pirate Information -- The Root
Facebook Isn't the Key to Catching Terrorists -- Molly Redden, New Republic

My Comment: These Somali pirates are pure evil .... and (in my opinion) Facebook's refusal to assist UN investigators is simply wrong. Here are two stories on two hostages who know first hand on what it was like to be held as a hostage by these thugs.

Alexandria Woman Kidnapped by Somali Pirates Recalls Experience -- NBC Washington
Judith Tebbutt: My six months held hostage by Somali pirates -- BBC

Somalia's Top Pirate Leader Given A Diplomatic Passport By Somalia's President

Wikimdia Commons

Exclusive: Somali Pirate Kingpins Enjoy "Impunity" - U.N. Experts -- Yahoo News/Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia's president has shielded a top pirate leader from arrest by issuing him a diplomatic passport, according to a United Nations investigation which criticizes the "climate of impunity" enjoyed by pirate kingpins in Somalia and abroad.

The U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia said in a report to the Security Council, seen by Reuters, that senior pirate leaders were benefitting from high level protection from Somali authorities and were not being sufficiently targeted for arrest or sanction by international authorities.

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Update: Somehow The Man Described As A 'Founding Figure' In Somali Piracy Has Got Himself A Diplomatic Passport -- Business Insider

My Comment: The corruption in Africa just astounds me.

Somali Pirates Are Becoming Very Dangerous

A Somali pirate boss stands on sandy dunes just outside the central Somali coastal town of Hobyo in 2010 (AFP/File, Roberto Schmidt)

Somali Pirates Chop Off Hostage Captain’s Arm To Elicit $3m Ransom -- Daily Mail

* New tactic used to extract greater sums from shipping companies

Somali pirates have started to cut off their hostages' limbs in a bid to extract even greater ransoms from the owners of the ships they capture.

The horrific new tactic was used last Friday on the Vietnamese captain of a ship being held in the Somali pirate lair of Haradhere.

Chao-I Wu's right arm was cut off after negotiations to pay a $3million ransom for his fishing ship, the FV Shiuh Fu-1, broke down.

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My Comment: Respect for life is non-existent in some places of the world .... Somalia is clearly one of those places.

Warships Off Somalia Are Filling Up With Somali Pirates

Arrests: A U.S. military team pulls suspected pirates from the sea and takes them back to USS Ashland. Photo from The Daily Mail

Warships Fill Up With Pirates After Kenya Balks -- Seattle PI/AP

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Somali pirates scooped up by U.S. and European warships are sitting in legal limbo on the high seas. Bringing them to the lawless Somali capital for trial is not an option and Kenya says it won't take any more, though diplomats wonder if the government in Nairobi may be trying to wring more cash from the international community.

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My Comment: Kenya wants more money with what was once a minor problem now becoming a flood. Our soft and confusing approach to stopping Somali piracy has resulted in an environment in which the Somali pirates now feel that there are no consequences for their actions on the high seas. The worse case scenario that they could envision would be to be arrested and put into a brig that will guarantee them fresh clothes and food .... with the distant possibility that they may be repatriated to a Western country that may (in the end) give them refugee status.

Considering where they are coming from .... if I was living there I would also be inspired to be a Somali pirate.

So Much For The Argument That Somali Pirates Protect The Fishing Grounds Off Their Coast

Scourge of the Indian Ocean (Image: Mohamed Dahir/AFP/Getty Images)

Somali Pirates Hold Science To Ransom -- New Scientist

SOMALI pirates terrorising the Indian Ocean are a hazard to more than shipping and tourists. They are also killing important scientific research and may be indirectly damaging the ocean's ecosystem.

Fishing boats in the Indian Ocean routinely carry scientists who gather data about fish stocks and threatened species while ensuring that boats comply with fishing rules. The piracy threat has put a stop to that. "We can't monitor and we can't do experiments because of the pirates," says Laurent Dagorn of France's Research Institute for Development (IRD).

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My Comment: For the past two years I have been reading stories about how many of the Somali pirates are actually fishermen who were driven to piracy for a living .... while this is probably true it is also true that these pirates are now exacerbating a terrible problem in the industry that they are claiming they are saving.

Exclusive Interview: Pirate On When To Negotiate, Kill Hostages

From The Danger Room:

For his story on the economics of Somali piracy, Wired contributing editor Scott Carney spoke to one of the ocean-going hijackers. They talked about how to negotiate a ransom, when to kill a hostage and how to avoid the Navy. Here’s the uncut version of that interview:

What was your job before you start this one, or what forced you to become a pirate?

Every government in the world is off our coasts. What is left for us? Nine years ago everyone in this town was stable and earn[ed] enough income from fishing. Now there is nothing. We have no way to make a living. We had to defend ourselves. We became watchmen of our coasts and took up our duty to protect the country. Don’t call us pirates. We are protectors.

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My Comment: A chilling interview. These are murderous thugs .... but for some reason international governments want to treat them with kid gloves.

Kenya Awash In Somali Pirates' Cash

Ali Abdinur Samo, 26, a retired Somali pirate, now lives in Eastleigh, a ramshackle enclave in Nairobi, Kenya. Samo is looking to invest some of his pirate loot. Shashank Bengali /McClatchy Newspapers

From Seattle Times/McClatchy Newspapers:

Young, newly rich and restless, Ali Abdinur Samo wasn't long for his dead-end homeland of Somalia. The 26-year-old recently decamped to Kenya, East Africa's land of opportunity, to put his wealth to work.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Young, newly rich and restless, Ali Abdinur Samo wasn't long for his dead-end homeland of Somalia. The 26-year-old recently decamped to Kenya, East Africa's land of opportunity, to put his wealth to work.

"I'm looking around," said Samo, whose close-cropped hair is already flecked with gray, an occupational hazard in his line of work. "I know people who are buying shops, hotels, properties. The economy is strong here, not like back home."

Samo, if you hadn't guessed, is a Somali pirate.

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My Comment: These criminals may (at the moment) be investing their monies into businesses and front organizations, but it is only a matter of time before they start becoming involved in other criminal enterprises. The reason why I am so sure is simple .... it is their nature.

Pirates: Yo, Ho, Ho And A Million-Dollar McMansion In Kenya

Photo: Ali Abdinur Samo, 26, a retired Somali pirate, now lives in Eastleigh, a ramshackle enclave in Nairobi, Kenya.

From McClatchy News:

NAIROBI, Kenya — Young, newly rich and restless, Ali Abdinur Samo wasn't long for his dead-end homeland of Somalia. The 26-year-old recently decamped to Kenya, East Africa's land of opportunity, to put his wealth to work.

"I'm looking around," said Samo, whose close-cropped hair is already flecked with gray, an occupational hazard in his line of work. "I know people who are buying shops, hotels, properties. The economy is strong here, not like back home."

Samo, if you hadn't guessed, is a Somali pirate.

"Was a pirate," he corrected. After earning about $116,000 in two heists, Samo bowed to his worried parents' pleas and took early retirement in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, where the fast-growing yet shady economy has quickly become a favorite haven for pirates to spend their ransoms.

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My Comment: Crime clearly pays in Africa.

Is Being a Somali Pirate Profitable?

Pirates in a speedboat approach their mother ship off Eyl in Somalia

Pirate Commander: 'How I Made My Fortune' -- SKY News

As bandits continue to terrorise shipping off the coast of Somalia, a pirate has claimed he was forced into a life of crime - but has made a fortune from it.

Speaking before the kidnapping of US sea captain Richard Phillips, Yassin Dheere said he had lost track of the money he has made since taking to piracy five years ago.

The 39-year-old, dressed in expensive-looking traditional robes and holding an AK-47, said he was born in a notorious pirate stronghold in Somalia.

"I was born in Eyl town and I used to be a fisherman," he told the Reuters news agency.

"I was forced to hijack foreign ships after the central government collapsed.

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More News On Somali Pirates

"I'm a successful Somali pirate" -- Reuters
Somali pirates "smell money" as good times return -- Reuters

Somali Pirates -- A Photo Album

Commandos from French frigate Le Floreal arrest nine Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden in this January 27, 2009 photo released on Wednesday by the French Navy. As foreign navies fight increasingly brazen gangs that hijack commercial vessels in busy shipping lanes. France has captured 57 pirates in seven such operations since last April. (HO/Reuters)

WNU Editor: Boston.com has compiled an excellent collection of pictures that relate to the piracy problem in Somalia. It will be worth the time to browse through it, and ot see the face of the enemy.

Hat Tip: Neptunis Lex

From Boston.com:

Somali pirates continue their attacks against international ships in and around the Gulf of Aden, despite the deterrent of stepped-up international naval escorts and patrols - and the increased failure rate of their attacks. Under agreements with Somalia, the U.N, and each other, ships belonging to fifteen countries now patrol the area. Somali pirates - who have won themselves nearly $200 million in ransom since early 2008 - are being captured more frequently now, and handed over to authorities in Kenya, Yemen and Somalia for trial. Collected here are some recent photos of piracy off the coast of Somalia, and the international efforts to rein it in. (30 photos total)

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Somali Pirate's Body Washes Ashore With $153,000

This US Navy photo shows a parachute dropped by a small aircraft over the MV Sirius Star during an apparent payment to pirates. Somali pirates have released a Hong-Kong registered cargo ship chartered by Iran which was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in November, Iran's state broadcaster reported on Saturday. (AFP/NVNS/David B. Hudson)

From Yahoo News/AP:

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom washed onshore with $153,000 in cash, a resident said Sunday, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.

Five pirates drowned Friday when their small boat capsized after they received a reported $3 million ransom for releasing a Saudi oil tanker. Local resident Omar Abdi Hassan said one of the bodies had been found on a beach near the coastal town of Haradhere and relatives were searching for the other four.

"One of them was discovered and they are still looking for the other ones. He had $153,000 in a plastic bag in his pocket," he said Sunday.

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My Comment: A fool and his money are always parted. In this case ... a greedy and stupid fool.

Interview With A Somali Pirate Leader

The Evil Solution -- Newsweek

Young and desperate, Somali pirates aren't afraid to commit heinous acts of destruction, says one of their leaders.

Somali pirates last September captured a Ukrainian cargo ship, the MV Faina, loaded to the gunnels with heavy weaponry, including 33 Russian-designed T-72 battle tanks. Since then, American and Russian naval vessels have been shadowing the ship at its anchorage off the fishing village of Hindawao, 300 miles north of Mogadishu. This month there were reports that the ship's owners had agreed on ransom terms, but the Faina and its crew are still being held. NEWSWEEK's Rod Nordland interviewed Shamun Indhabur, who is thought to be the leader of the pirates who took the Faina, and the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker with $100 million worth of oil aboard. The interview was conducted by satellite telephone to the bridge of the Faina, through Somali translator Abukar al-Badri. Excerpts:

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What The Pirates Say

From The International Herald Tribune:

The word "pirate" has come into the news for the first time in memory, as raiders armed with grenade launchers and grappling hooks take over vessels headed through waters off Somalia for the Suez Canal.

Last week, four ships were captured, including a massive Saudi oil tanker, the Sirius Star. More than 3 million barrels of oil pass through those waters every day en route to markets in Europe and the United States. On Thursday, the pirates announced that they wanted $25 million for ransom for the Saudi tanker. For more than a month, pirates have held a Ukrainian freighter, the cargo of which is a vast store of weapons, including tanks and artillery. The arms were headed for Kenya or Sudan.

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Somali Pirates To Fight For Oil Tanker Ransom

The crew of the Belize-flagged cargo ship MV Faina stand on the deck after a U.S. Navy request to check on their health and welfare off the coast of Somalia, November 9, 2008. (U.S. Navy/Mass communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason R. Zalasky/Handout/Reuters)

From News.com.au:

SOMALI pirates holding a huge oil-laden Saudi tanker have vowed to fight back should any assault be attempted to free the ship and urged its owners to pay a $US25 million ($41 million) ransom.

As world powers rushed naval forces to Somalia's dangerous waters amid growing concerns of major disruptions to international trade, the pirates consolidated their land base with more men and weapons.

Speaking to AFP from the pirate lair of Harardhere, a member of the group holding the Sirius Star said there was no plan to destroy the super-tanker or harm its crew but warned any military bid to free it would be "disastrous".

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Update: Somali rebels take steps to attack tanker pirates -- Yahoo News/Reuters

'World Only Cares About Pirates'

From the BBC News:

Ex-Somali Army Colonel Mohamed Nureh Abdulle lives in Harardhere - the town closest to where the hijacked Saudi oil tanker, Sirius Star is moored. He tells the BBC, via phone from his home, that the town's residents are more concerned about the apparent dumping of toxic waste than piracy.

The Harardhere-born military man advises the town's elders on security matters and is in his fifties.

Somalia has been wracked by conflict since 1991 - when its last national government was forced from power.

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Asians Step Up Defence Against Somali Pirates

From Reuters:

TOKYO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - India said it had destroyed a Somali pirate vessel in the Gulf of Aden and other Asian nations mulled sending their own navies to the area on Wednesday as attacks in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes become increasingly brazen.

On Saturday a Saudi-owned tanker carrying $100 million worth of oil was seized in the Indian Ocean, becoming the biggest ever ship to be hijacked, despite a large international naval presence in the area, backed by the European Union and NATO.

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Somalia: Italian Naval Destroyer Bars Possible Pirate Attack Off Somalia-NATO

From Somali.net:

(SomaliNet) An Italian naval destroyer responding to a merchant vessel's distress signal prevented a likely pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, NATO says.

In a statement, the military alliance says that the Panama-flagged merchant ship Kirti was sailing toward Suez on Saturday afternoon when it reported two skiffs attempting to approach it at high speed.

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