Al Jazeera English: Firms reap Somali piracy profits

[SealLion]

Many of the pirates operating off the coast of Somalia were given special forces-style training from Western firms, a special report by Al Jazeera has found.

Some security firms currently protecting shipping from the pirates had been engaged to train them a decade ago

There's a video on the website link for viewing:

Here's the link:

Al Jazeera English - Africa - Firms reap Somali piracy profits

YOu got to check out the video on site. It's really incredible.

The profits that they discuss from there being piracy is unreal, to say the least. I had no idea that this sort could actually be.

But, on the other hand, anything's possible, yes??

They want piracy to stop, yet on the other hand, with the lawyers making $1000 dollars an hour and the numerous other financial benefits being made. It's difficult for this sort of thing to stop.

[suroyo]

Hmm yea, the norm for the shipping companies is to just pay the ransom skip the hassle and be done with it rather than incur any further costs.

I think for this to stop or at least be reduced would require a proactive approach from both the governments and shipping firms concerned. I don't think the pirates will care about the navy patrols if there is still an incentive at the end.

[SealLion]

I'd agree with you there with respect to taking proactive steps.

Though, there's one thing that I"d like to say here and that is for some of the country's that patrol the sea's around Somalia to prevent some of the pirates from illegally boarding other ships, the navy's, some of them at least, in particular the navy from my country, can't really do much...if anything at all.

The pirates can't be taken to jail.
They cant' be fined either.

Hell, they can't even be shot at and killed unless some of the pirates shoot at the navy boats.

Basically, they can't do much against the pirates. At least this is the impressin that I"m getting when I read or hear about this on the news.

[suroyo]

I'd agree with you there with respect to taking proactive steps.

Though, there's one thing that I"d like to say here and that is for some of the country's that patrol the sea's around Somalia to prevent some of the pirates from illegally boarding other ships, the navy's, some of them at least, in particular the navy from my country, can't really do much...if anything at all.

The pirates can't be taken to jail.
They cant' be fined either.

Hell, they can't even be shot at and killed unless some of the pirates shoot at the navy boats.

Basically, they can't do much against the pirates. At least this is the impressin that I"m getting when I read or hear about this on the news.

Well it's true they can't do much, but they could still bring them to court under universal jurisdiction. This article "Why the Piracy Police Isn’t Working" delves deeper into the problem.

You might have read it but it would also be of interest to those who haven't. Even so, trying to set up such a system of offshore courts and to successfully prosecute these pirates would be a legal quagmire. This piracy problem is proving to be quite the dilemma.



Edit- This report : International Legal Responses to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia referenced in the article I cited above is also an interesting read.

[slikrapid]

somehow it seems absurd that today something like real pirating happens anywhere in the world - i would say it can only happen if their government supports it (ie. has some benefits from it)

lets face it - pirates in the somalian region have a limited operating area, so it would be easy to avoid them by using farther routes (costly, but safer), let alone using some surveillance equipment for tracking activity in that region

another thing - attacks on the sea are slow and can be easily reported, so i don't see an obstacle for securing the trade routes from the pirates or luring them into traps

[suroyo]

somehow it seems absurd that today something like real pirating happens anywhere in the world - i would say it can only happen if their government supports it (ie. has some benefits from it)

lets face it - pirates in the somalian region have a limited operating area, so it would be easy to avoid them by using farther routes (costly, but safer), let alone using some surveillance equipment for tracking activity in that region

another thing - attacks on the sea are slow and can be easily reported, so i don't see an obstacle for securing the trade routes from the pirates or luring them into traps

Somalia is a lawless nation with a non-functioning government. Whether the government 'supports' it is irrelevant, pirates don't need a permit to plunder especially in a place where law is non-existent. They have no reason to collude with public officials who hold no power. Piracy is a very real problem in this region. It's also still a serious problem in the straits of Malacca, even though the waterway is very small and is surrounded by countries with capable navies. Avoiding them is not practical and would cost much more than you'd think and thus it would make more business sense to pay the ransom. The gulf is a vital shipping route and is an essential oil transport route between Europe and the Far East.

Somalia is located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. The pirates can reach almost any ships entering the waterway. Their typical modus operandi is to use speedboats at night and slowly creep up to the tankers/cargo ships. They aren't slow and it certainly isn't easy to report quickly enough for a navy ship to assist in time.

The solution to this problem is not as clear cut as you make it out to be, hence the discussion above ^.

[slikrapid]

doesn't look so hard to me, especially if you read the comments which contain several encounters with pirates and their outcome

The new generation of privateers would likely consist of maritime private security forces, like Miami's McRoberts Maritime Security. I spoke to Michael Lee, a former Lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard and now McRoberts' Assistant Vice President. Citing Southeast Asia's Malacca Straits as an applicable case study, he said, "A private security company was hired, and over a short period of time, just the show of force decreased piracy."

According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks dropped from 79 in 2005 to 50 in 2006. And the third quarter of this year, there were just two.

"We're very interested in helping in Somalia," Lee said, adding that his firm "would be willing to donate a portion of the proceeds to Somali hunger relief."

source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-thomson/a-solution-to-somalias-pi_b_148481.html

[SealLion]

Not every shipping company is willing to pay such costs though.

Some of the shipping companies, and I am sure that there's a few hundred that use such routes in that specific area, would probably just desire to go on 'luck' and come to some kind of conclusion that they're better off by just sticking to what they've been doing for a long time----basically trying to avoid as much as possible, the pirates.

One might think that it's cheaper for all the shipping companies to 'chip in' to some private security firm, but maybe not all of them would or even want to.

IDK....you'd have to ask the shipping company's presidents to see what they'd all say about sharing the cost.

It would seem logical from an economic perspective, I would agree.

I saw a documentary on piracy in this same area that were talking about. It really isn't all that easy to avoid the pirates. They do use fast boats and do also work at night. They have guns.

The only defense that the shipping companies have, and this isn't for all of them, only for some of the cargo ships that carry this equipment, are water cannons. Water cannons aren't much defense against real bullets that kill.