Pirates of Somalia: ship hijackings

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Who are the pirates of Somalia? How was this band born? We will answer these and other questions in the article. Somali pirates are modern armed groups, with the aim of ransom capturing ships off the coast of Somalia. They are armed, as a rule, with grenade launchers and automatic weapons. They use small-tonnage vessels (motor boats, boats, fishing schooners) as vehicles.

Organization

The Pirates of Somalia are often superbly organized but not well prepared. The territorial waters of Somalia have the status of the location of the naval bases of some countries and international organizations, as well as militarized (police, military, humanitarian) areas of responsibility of guarding, patrolling or checking parties. In order to ensure the safety of shipping, the area of operation of pirates is patrolled by the forces of the Russian Navy, NATO member countries, India and other states.

Composition of groups

Pirates of Somalia are young people aged 20-35 from Putland (a self-proclaimed state in northeastern Somalia). According to the Air Force agency, pirates are divided into the following categories of persons:

• experts,working with equipment, mainly with GPS equipment;
• local fishermen who understand marine situations;
• former military who fought in Somalia's internal battles as part of local alliances.

The West African Seamen's Assistance Association has found that there are about five basic pirate gangs with 1,000 armed fighters.

The emergence of piracy

How and why did the pirates of Somalia appear? Since 1991, this country has actually ceased to exist as a centralized state, having been divided into zones of local authorities. Since then, the financial system and the centralized economy have not functioned in it.

The country is full of weapons. Thanks to this nuance, it is not at all difficult to create superbly equipped raider teams. The local government (or rather, tribal leaders and warlords) either participates in the piracy, or turns a blind eye to it. It is not interested in any opposition to the militants, since they do not have any effect on its interethnic status.

How did Somali pirates start hijacking ships? Near this country lie the routes of ships heading through the Suez Canal from the countries of Asia and the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. In addition, there are frequent ships sailing to or from the ports of the Indian Riviera of Africa. It is known that the countries of Europe and Asia quite often conclude trade contracts with each other. As a result, an impressive flow of ships with valuable cargo turns into a mass of objects.for a likely capture.

Piracy in this area of the planet since 2004 began to develop at an accelerated pace. The International Maritime Bureau reported that more than 100 attacks on transport ships have been made in Somali waters since the beginning of 2008. During this period, the militants were able to capture 40 ships, 13 of them have not been released so far. About 268 people from various countries are still in captivity.

From November 10 to November 16, 2008, 11 attacks were carried out in this area (three ships were hijacked), and four episodes of shooting were recorded. Pirates have always used quite powerful small arms and even grenade launchers, but so far not a single sailor has died from their hands. Perhaps this is due both to the disgusting preparation and the deliberate tactics of the militants, who understand that if blood is shed, they will face hard pursuit on the shore. That is why pirates are loyal to the hostage-sailors, and demand ransom from companies and corporations, owners of cargo and ships.

Of course, the hunt for Somali pirates is open. The interethnic forces and special forces of the countries that sent their navies to the area of the incident are increasingly opening fire to kill. In 2010, militants accused Russian special forces of executing 10 pirates without trial or investigation. This incident occurred after the release of the Russian tanker.

In 2011, on February 22, the situation changed: sea robbers took the lives of US hostages on a captured yacht, which was pursued by an American ship. The militants opened fire on the warship with RPGs, but missed. After that, 4 were killed on the yacht. US citizen.

Interethnic reaction

When did the fight against Somali pirates start? In 2008, on October 7, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution No. 1838, which allowed states to use the air force and navy in this confrontation.

In 2008, on December 8, the EU launched Operation Atlanta, and in January 2009, the Joint Task Force No. 151 was created.

Regulation No. 1816, adopted by the UN Security Council in 2008, is of paramount importance. It is it that sets the foundation for the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Operatives were able to detain only 500 militants, two-thirds of whom were later released. In 2010, in April, at the initiative of Russia, a UN Security Council resolution was adopted on the effective prosecution of piracy.

First naval battles

It is known that the medal for the fight against pirates of Somalia "Fearless" was awarded to many operatives. On March 4, 2003, maritime bandits attacked the Russian tanker Moneron en route to Kenya from Saudi Arabia. Seven pirates on two motorboats pursued the ship for about an hour, firing from grenade launchers and machine guns.

160 km off the coast of Somalia on November 5, 2005, militants attacked the Seaborn Spirit cruise liner, which was en route from Alexandria to the Seychelles. Pirates are known to have organized about 23 raids in 2005.

The battle with the corsairs, which also involved two ships of the US Navy (destroyer and missilecruiser) took place in 2006. This battle is considered the first naval battle of the XXI century. It should be added that the UN World Food Program chartered the Rosen dry cargo ship, and in 2007 it was seized by pirates. In the same year, they detained a Japanese tanker.

2011 losses

In 2011, pirates from Somalia caused damage of 6.6-6.9 billion dollars. You can read about this in the Oceans Beyond Piracy report (a project of the US One Earth Future Foundation).

2012

Pirates of Somalia love to be photographed with trophies. In the Arabian Sea in 2012, on May 10, they boarded the Greek tanker Smyrni, sailing under the flag of Liberia. It transported 135,000 tons of crude oil.

Europeans for the first time in 2012, on May 15, fired at pirates on the lands of Somalia. They launched a missile strike from the air: aircraft stationed on ships of the European Navy, patrolling the Gulf of Aden, participated in the operation. The commander of the joint forces of Europe in the region, Rear Admiral Potts Duncan, said that the shelling was targeted and there were no victims among the local residents. No Europeans were hurt either. Which country the aircraft belonged to was not reported.

Thanks to the actions of the interethnic coalition from May 2012 to May 2013, maritime robbers failed to catch a single ship. The operation of the special detachment of the Putland Marine Police also played an important role in the elimination of piracy. The ground bases of militants were destroyed by the forces of this organization. After hercreation, the corsairs had to go to the Galmudug coast.

Economic consequences

The damage caused by Somali pirates is increasing every year. The size of the ransoms has increased significantly, they are interconnected with the size of the vessels caught. If earlier the amount did not exceed 400-500 thousand dollars, today it is already about 5 million.

Cruise program

In 2009 there were "Somalia" tours. Pirates so pissed people off that some began to advertise cruises along the coast of this country on the Internet. The tourist travel program for 2009 cost only $1,500. The organizers offered to hunt pirates with impunity with their favorite weapons.

They wrote that their ship would sail along the Somali coastline, waiting for the corsairs to attack. Tourists were encouraged to take weapons with them or rent them from the cruise organizers.

The ship was supposed to leave Mombasa (Nigeria) and go along the coast of Somalia to Djibouti, where the journey ended. It was reported that on the ship each traveler could receive one hundred tracer rounds for free. Enterprising guides promised tourists that the pirates would attack at least twice. And if this does not happen, they claimed that they would return half the cost of the cruise.