The seas off war-torn Somalia have become a “latter-day Barbary Coast”, said Ian Johnston in The Independent on Sunday. There are now an estimated 1,000 pirates in these waters, responsible for more than 60 attacks this year.
International Maritime Bureau director Pottengal Mukundan says shipping firms are thought to have paid ransom demands of up to $30m in 2008; at present 12 vessels and 259 crew are being held for ransom. The most high-profile is the MV Faina, a Ukrainian freighter loaded with arms with an estimated value of $30m, including 33 Soviet-designed T-72 tanks, captured on its way to Kenya on 25 September. A US-led naval flotilla, concerned the arms could fall into the hands of an al-Qaeda linked movement fighting Somalia’s government, is surrounding it, and a frigate is on its way from Russia.
Last week the Somali government authorised foreign powers to use any force necessary to free the ship. Yet the pirates are standing firm, demanding a $20m ransom and promising to fight if attacked. The situation has serious implications for world trade.
The international shipping community is shocked by the apparent indifference of governments, said The Canberra Times. Ransom money has been spent on increasingly sophisticated equipment, emboldening pirates to move north into the Gulf of Aden, which links the Red Sea and Suez Canal. This is a vital trade route: around 90% of world trade by volume is carried by ships with some 50,000 merchant vessels trading internationally, 16,000 of which pass through the Gulf of Aden.
Insurance premiums for ships using the route have already risen tenfold this year. Ships may start to avoid it by taking a 20-day detour around the Cape of Good Hope. This would raise the cost of oil and other goods being shipped to the West.
A humanitarian crisis also threatens, said Johnston. Shipments of food aid to Somalia are being protected for now by the Canadian navy, but its mandate runs out at the end of this month. If that supply was halted, “millions would starve”.