Piracy ‘surge’ off Somali coast

Pirates seized five ships in a 48-hour period ending Monday.

By Kristen Chick

posted April 07, 2009 at 10:00 am EST

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia have gone on the offensive, seizing five ships in 48 hours despite the presence of an international naval task force patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

The New York Times reports that the pirates are changing tactics by going after ships further out at sea. The five ships seized, according to Kenyan maritime groups, include a German freighter, a Taiwanese fishing trawler, a Yemeni tugboat, a French yacht, and a British cargo ship.

Kenyan seafarers are now talking about a "pirate surge."

"This hasn't happened before," said Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program in Mombasa, Kenya. "The pirates are taking the opportunity to be more aggressive. They are pushing more southeast. They are moving down. They are using this opportunity to do whatever they can."

Most of last year's 120-plus pirate attacks were centered on the relatively narrow Gulf of Aden, a strategic waterway between Yemen and Somalia at the mouth of the Red Sea. That is where most of the navy patrols are, too, and several recent attacks on merchant vessels have been thwarted by helicopters and frigates speeding to the rescue.

But the pirates are adapting, going farther out to sea. On Saturday, a German freighter was hijacked about 400 miles offshore, between Kenya and the Seychelles, Mr. Mwangura said.

The Times reports that the pirates netted more than $100 million last year in ransom paid for the return of hijacked ships.

The Associated Press reports that one of the latest ships seized by the pirates, the Taiwanese ship hijacked Monday was taken near an island in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

Analysts say the pirates have moved many of their operations out of the Gulf of Aden, which is heavily patrolled by naval warships from countries including China, the United States, France and India.

Instead, they are targeting ships coming out of the Mozambique Channel, an area of the Indian Ocean further south between the southeastern Africa coast and Madagascar.

But the British ship was taken Monday in the Gulf of Aden, reports the London-based Daily Telegraph, showing that, even there, the pirates can avoid the international armada sent to deter them.

The number of pirate attacks spiked in March after a lull in January and February, reports Reuters.

There have been at least 15 pirate attacks on vessels off the coast of Somalia which were reported by the International Maritime Bureau for March, after only two in January and February. Earlier hijackings focussed on the Gulf of Aden.

Agence France-Presse reports that the pirates now hold at least 17 ships and more than 250 hostages.

Hundreds of ransom-hunting Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships over the past year, mostly merchant vessels plying one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.

They operate from skiffs towed by pirate "mother ships", which are often hijacked fishing vessels. Last year, their haul included a Ukrainian cargo loaded with combat tanks and a Saudi supertanker.

More than 130 attacks, including close to 50 successful hijackings, were reported in 2008, threatening the vital shipping lane and spurring the international community into joint naval action.

With more than 1 million square miles of sea to patrol, the international naval task force has a difficult job foiling all hijackings, The Times of London reports.

On any day, there are between 15 and 20 warships on counter-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden from different navies that range from the United States and Britain to Russia, China and India. To underline the concerns that piracy have raised, there are three separate organisations involved - the US-led Combined Task Force 151, Nato and the European Union with Operation Atalanta. Countries such as Russia and China are not part of these operations, but apparently there is good communication between all the warships.

There have been successes. Of the 40 attacks this year, ten were foiled by the intervention of one or more of the warships. A military helicopter hovering over the hijack-area is often more than enough to send the pirates fleeing.

The transit channels, however, are 500 miles long and, even within these more confined areas, it is still not possible for the warships to be everywhere. The pirates, operating in small boats that provide no reflecting radar blips, have adapted their methods, and have become more heavily armed to present to targeted vessel crews a significant threat to their lives.

The Times reports that the EU has an agreement to try captured pirate suspects in Kenya, and the first trial is due to begin this month.

Reuters reports that six suspected Somali pirates captured by the French lost an appeal Monday, in which they had argued their arrest and transfer to France was unauthorized.

The court ruled that their arrest was justified and described it as a "defence operation." If found guilty, the pirates could face a life sentence.