Good Piracy In Somalia Case Study Example

In a span of four years, piracy in Somali has become a major issue for the global community. This situation poses a threat to significant trading routes, as well as national and international security. Since 2007, the number of attacks and value of the ransoms has been on the increase. The ransoms are estimated at around 600,000 dollars to 4.7 million dollars per vessel. In the year 2012 alone, the ransoms amounted to a painful 135 million dollars. The shipping industry has mainly focused on non-lethal defense measures with some success to counter this situation. However, due to the rising and progressive threats from pirates the defense mechanisms are shifting to the use of more robust means (Bahadur). This process involves the use of private and armed guards.
The government has also sought to act at an international level to ensure the payment of ransoms is legal so as to avoid endangering of the crew. Piracy off the coast of Somalia has increased over the last four years. It is currently becoming a key concern in the UK. The threat, however, may not be primarily to the UK ship since only a few have been captured. The threat, however, affects the economy and security of the UK more. More to that, piracy touches on banking in the UK, shipping an insurance industry and also threatens the large amount of goods that are transported to the UK by the sea. In consideration of the above concerns, and as a nation whose weaknesses and strengths are distinctly maritime, the UK should be more concerned about making immediate responses to piracy.

Somali Piracy:

The Somali pirates are normally characterized in one of the following two ways. The first description is aligned to a broadly sympathetic narrative where they were once fishermen forced to protect their waters from dumping of waste and illegal fishing following the breakdown of order in Somalia (Bahadur). Some of the pirate groups go ahead to encourage this narrative, insisting that the acts of piracy are a kind of tax on the illegal fishing vessels. This reason is dismissed since surveys have confirmed that 6.5% of the piracy ventures are l to fishing. The second way of characterizing the pirates is by depicting the group as simple maritime offenders. Many of these offenders were not fishermen to start with, and are seen as people who are ambitious to reap the illegal financial gains acquired from the piracy acts.
There are about 1000-3000 pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. A survey conducted revealed that the current pirates are between 15-30 years of age and are almost completely male (Bahadur). The survey unveiled that most of the pirates are educated poorly and mostly come from rural areas, where it is difficult to make a living. The young men who engage in piracy believe that piracy allows the probability of getting rich fast. The study also exposed that there could be some Somali investors taking part in the piracy business. Most of these investors often finance the piracy operations hoping to get returns from the ransoms they put up.
The areas where the pirates operate are now believed to have greatly expanded too far beyond the Somali coast, into the Indian Ocean. The form of piracy undertaken by the Somali pirates is no longer the traditional way where pirates would hijack the ship and steal their cargo. The Somali pirate groups instead capture vessels so as to hold the ship, crew hostage, and cargo and to demand a ransom from the owners of the ship or from the families of those involved (Bahadur). Many attacks start from a single skiff or in some instances two skiffs. Each skiff holds about 2-6 pirates. The pirates are usually armed with a range of weapons, ranging from AK47’S to RPG’s. The pirates then manoeuvre one of the skiffs to come beside the ship, and then throw up some form of tool they can use to climb. Once on the ship, they proceed to take over the bridge. The survey also unveils that there are no typical attacks from pirates. The pirates are highly adaptable.

Conclusion:

Piracy is a fast growing issue and has affected the safety of water transport. It needs quick and heavy measures put forth to curb it. There are factors; however, that hinder the serving of justice to the pirates. First, it is the fact that pirates rarely kill and will not stop until they achieve their mission. They prefer keeping their hostages alive and well so that demanding for ransom is possible (Bahadur). Keeping the hostages, alive makes the governments involved reluctant to take action against the pirates. This process gives the pirate power and is usually a way of encouraging piracy. Pirates also have friends who are powerful. It makes it easier for them to acquire money to use on their expeditions, and also makes it easier for them to be protected by the law. These are only a few factors that explain why it is difficult to eliminate piracy.

Work Cited

Bahadur, Jay. The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World. New York: Pantheon
Books, 2011.