Piracy is a well known industry in Africa. So far this year there have been 376 attacks on ships with 172 of those being from Somali pirates. 44 ships have actually been hijacked and 40 of those hijackings were made by Somali pirates.
There has been a small increase in frequency but the more alarming part of all has been the growth of the ransoms. The ransoms keep on rising.
The inflation has hit a new peak this month. A $9.5m ransom has been paid for the release of the Samho Dream, a supertanker which was hijacked in the Indian Ocean. Knowing that the ransom is mostly only 40% of the total bill incurred (lawyers, negotiators, crew compensation and penalties for late delivery of cargo), this is quite a big problem.
Even though these ransoms are quite big, the value of a ship and its cargo trumps the amount of ransom. In these cases the payments are made by insurance companies but some are starting to charge more for insurance for ships travelling through the Gulf of Aden off the Somalia coast.
Another problem is the pure risk-reward calculation. The pirates are rarely brought to a court of justice which makes it very attractive to continue in their criminal activities.
Some people are starting to believe western countries aren’t really intervening because the pirates and their militias are the only force that prevent that outright Islamists take control in Somalia. There hasn’t been a real political will to take captured pirates, put them into prison and prosecuting them.
It’s hard to protect ships against these pirates. The European Union try to protect vulnerable shipping but they can only give guidelines for ships to follow. Some ship-owners are even starting to hire armed guards despite the fact it’s a grey area of law.
The author the article concludes that getting rid of piracy would depend on a wholesale change to the political situation in Somalia or a wholesale refusal of ships to transit the Gulf of Aden. He believes both ‘solutions’ are unlikely to happen.
I find it quite shocking that the western world is just looking the other way. It’s quite obvious they don’t want to solve the situation because they don’t want an Islam regime in Somalia. They are sending out the wrong message. Piracy can’t be tolerated and here we are now, tolerating pirates hijacking ships for enormous amounts of ransom.
It’s just a matter of time before there are going to be a lot of casualties on both sides. The ship-owners aren’t naive. They are hiring guards to protect the ships against pirates and who can blame them. Insurance costs are rising and they will keep on rising as long the situation isn’t resolved. People take matters into their own hands eventually and I’m afraid blood will be shed.
Steven Vonckers
There has been a small increase in frequency but the more alarming part of all has been the growth of the ransoms. The ransoms keep on rising.
The inflation has hit a new peak this month. A $9.5m ransom has been paid for the release of the Samho Dream, a supertanker which was hijacked in the Indian Ocean. Knowing that the ransom is mostly only 40% of the total bill incurred (lawyers, negotiators, crew compensation and penalties for late delivery of cargo), this is quite a big problem.
Even though these ransoms are quite big, the value of a ship and its cargo trumps the amount of ransom. In these cases the payments are made by insurance companies but some are starting to charge more for insurance for ships travelling through the Gulf of Aden off the Somalia coast.
Another problem is the pure risk-reward calculation. The pirates are rarely brought to a court of justice which makes it very attractive to continue in their criminal activities.
Some people are starting to believe western countries aren’t really intervening because the pirates and their militias are the only force that prevent that outright Islamists take control in Somalia. There hasn’t been a real political will to take captured pirates, put them into prison and prosecuting them.
It’s hard to protect ships against these pirates. The European Union try to protect vulnerable shipping but they can only give guidelines for ships to follow. Some ship-owners are even starting to hire armed guards despite the fact it’s a grey area of law.
The author the article concludes that getting rid of piracy would depend on a wholesale change to the political situation in Somalia or a wholesale refusal of ships to transit the Gulf of Aden. He believes both ‘solutions’ are unlikely to happen.
I find it quite shocking that the western world is just looking the other way. It’s quite obvious they don’t want to solve the situation because they don’t want an Islam regime in Somalia. They are sending out the wrong message. Piracy can’t be tolerated and here we are now, tolerating pirates hijacking ships for enormous amounts of ransom.
It’s just a matter of time before there are going to be a lot of casualties on both sides. The ship-owners aren’t naive. They are hiring guards to protect the ships against pirates and who can blame them. Insurance costs are rising and they will keep on rising as long the situation isn’t resolved. People take matters into their own hands eventually and I’m afraid blood will be shed.
Steven Vonckers
I agree with Steven. Pirace is forbidden, it is not normal that they can hijack ships for ransom.
ReplyDeleteDaphné V.E.