Flanked by a mother ship, pirates approach vulnerable shipping vessels and
tourist-chartered yachts on small skiffs. Armed with rocket-propelled
grenades and small weapons, they use hooks, chains, and ladders to scale the
ship.
Once onboard, the pirates intimidate, terrorize, and overtake the captain
and crew, who are then likely to be transported to Somali territory and held
for ransom.
Just a few years ago, this scenario was one that many seafarers feared when
traveling through the Horn of Africa. Now, instances of piracy off Somalia's
shores are down from 163 in 2009 to two in 2013, the Contact Group on Piracy
off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) said at a press conference at the United
Nations on Wednesday.
CGPCS is a coalition of 80 countries, seafarers' organizations, and NGOs
that was organized in 2009 to counter the growing threat of piracy off the
coast of Somalia, a country then considered to be a lawless state.
As a result of the organization's work, piracy is at its lowest level since
the peak of the crisis in 2011. In February 2014, the United States passed
the chairmanship of the CGPCS to the European Union, whose representatives
underscored the need for continued vigilance.
"The main message is that the job is not done yet," said Maciej Popowski,
Deputy Secretary-General of the EU External Action Service and chair of the
group. "The piracy business model is fractured, but not broken."
Popowski said that although the number of attacks has decreased to a handful
a year, there are currently 49 hostages being held by pirates; 1,400 pirates
are presently jailed in 21 states across the world.
"Somalia, at that time, was a failed state, so piracy became a mode of
economic income for pirates," Theodore Karasik, Director for Research &
Consultancy at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis
(INEGMA) in Dubai, told MediaGlobal News. "They were able to develop a
pirate economic model that brought them a great deal of income. The
phenomenon of kidnapping people for ransom was quite rampant."
The drop in piracy over the past five years is due primarily to an extensive
international navy patrol effort spearheaded by NATO and the EU. At any
time, there are some 20 warships deployed in the area, providing a safe
passageway through the channel.
Additionally, commercial ships have adopted improved protection practices,
such as lifting the ships' ladders and traveling at speeds higher than 34
kilometers per hour.
In an effort to continue to suppress piracy, CGPCS promotes development in
the region, where experts say a lack of economic opportunities drives
Somalis into illegal industries.
"If the young Somalis have a better idea of making a living than pirating at
sea, they'll certainly do it. They don't want to be recognized as pirates
and crooks," said Popowski.
Donna Hopkins, Coordinator of Counter Piracy and Maritime Security at the US
Department of State, disagrees.
"Personally, I don't believe pirates are born out of poverty," Hopkins told
MediaGlobal News. "Not all poor people revert to the immoral practice of
kidnapping for ransom. Pirates are just rotten guys that want to make a
quick buck."
In addition to Somalia's stagnant job market, another challenge CGPCS faces
is how to patrol an area of approximately 4 million square kilometers -
equivalent to one and a half times the size of mainland Europe. The cost of
keeping tabs on such a sizable area was $1.09 billion in 2012, according to
Oceans Beyond Piracy's 2012 Economic Cost of Piracy report.
"We need to maintain our vigilance," Hopkins told MediaGlobal News. "The
Contact Group's work is not done. It looks like the crisis has passed, but
it could resurge if any of us bring down our defenses. We need to keep the
patrols in the region and continue to urge all international aid donors to
help develop the Somali coastline."
Karasik warns that the international community must be vigilant about piracy
in other regions, as well.
"We have to watch for other parts of the world where pirates will emerge
because they've seen the ability of Somali pirates to make money from this
economic model," Karasik told MediaGlobal News, citing a surge in piracy in
West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.