Ships in Service Training Material A-M CHAUVEL Piracy In Somalia 2009.

Ships in Service Training Material A-M CHAUVEL

PiracyIn Somalia

2009

An act of boarding or

attempting to board any ship

with the apparent attempt

to commit theft or any other crime

and with the apparent intent or capability to

use force in the furtherance of that act.

Piracy

Ship in Service Training Material A-M CHAUVEL

Definition

Somali piracyProblematic


in 2008, said the report by Chatham House,a London-based institute

that analyzes international issues.

Money fromthe $18 million to $30 million

in ransoms paid this year is helping financethe war in Somalia, the report says.

One of the groups reportedly receiving ransom money is Al-Shabaab, which the United States

listed as a terrorist organization this year.


About 16,000 ships a year navigate the Gulf of Aden, which, as the southern gateway to the Suez Canal, is one of the most important

trade routes in the world. The ships mostly transport oil from the Middle East and

goods from Asia to Europe and North America.Having to change routes would add

weeks of travel time and increase fuel consumption, driving up the cost of shipping. Insurance premiums for the Gulf of Aden have

already increased, says the report,Piracy in Somalia:

“Threatening global trade, feeding local wars.”

Somali piracyProblematic


Pirates need a few things to prosper:

Weak national security ofa host state political unrest

Access to weapons

Ships transitingclose to shore

Cooperative weather

Abundance ofhigh value ships

Somali piracy

As seen in the diagram of shipping routes,Somalia lies in the direct path of traffic transiting

between Asia and the Suez canal.

The manner in which Somalia just coupled with the amount of shoreline in close proximity to shipping

lanes gives the pirates easy access to ships.


Somalia meets thefirst two requirementsbut, like in real estate,

it’s location.

Somali piracy

Traditionally pirates attack specific ships.

Their mission was to get aboard,subdue the crew and leave both quickly and quietly.

Somali pirates have a different motivation,they target large ocean-going ships with few items of value aboard thatare easy to transport and sell ashore.

Piracy


Why are pirates taking the risk?Traditional motivation

The recent hijackings are instead the result of millions of dollars in ransom demandsbeing met by shipowners and brings the number of attacks off Somaliato 91 in year 2008.

These ransoms are paid to local warlordsthat have many ways to encourage the pirates to take the risk. The people planning these attacks remain shore side and have very little risk of being harmed.

Piracy


Why are pirates taking the risk?More recent motivation

Somali piracy


Background to Somalia pirates

The economic situation is estimated per capita GPD of $600/year. it is one of the world's poorest countries.

Millions of Somalis depend on food aid, in 2008, according to the World Bank, 73% of the population lived on a daily income below $2.

These factors and the lucrative success of many hijacking operations have drawn a number of young men toward gangs of pirates whose wealth and strength often make them part of the local social and economic elite.

Somali piracy


Background to Somalia pirates

Abdi Farah Juha who lives in Garoowe ( 100 miles from the sea ) says:

"They have money, They have power, They are getting stronger by the day, They wed the most beautiful girls, They are building big houses, They have new cars, new guns…”

Somali piracy


Most pirates are aged20-35 years oldand come from

the region ofPuntland in

northeastern Somalia.

Profiling Somali pirates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Puntland.gif

The East African Seafarers’ Associationestimates that there are at least : 5 pirate gangs and a total of 1,000 armed men.The pirates can be divided into three main categories:

- Local fishermen, considered the brains of the pirates' operations due to their skill and knowledge of the sea. - Ex-militiamen who used to fight for the local clan warlords, used as the muscle. - Technical experts who operate high-tech equipment such as the GPS devices.

Somali piracy


Profiling Somali pirates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Puntland.gif

There have been both positive and negative effects of the pirates' economic success.

Local residents have complained that the presence of so many armed men makes them feel insecure, and that their free spending ways cause wild fluctuations in the local exchange rate. Others fault them for excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and khat.

Somali piracy


Effects and Perceptions

Many other residents appreciate the rejuvenating effect that the pirates' on-shore spending and re-stocking has had on their impoverished towns, a presence which has oftentimes provided jobs and opportunity when there were none.

Entire hamlets have in the process been transformed into veritable boomtowns, with local shop owners and other residents using their gains to purchase items such as generators - allowing full days of electricity, once an unimaginable luxury.

Somali piracy


Effects and Perceptions

The pirates get most of their weapons from Yemen, but a significant amount comes from Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.

Weapons dealers in the capital receive a deposit from a hawala dealer on behalf of the pirates and the weapons are then driven to Puntland where the pirates pay the balance.

Next slide indicate the type of weapons. Additionally, given the particular origin of their weaponry, they are likely to have hand grenades such as the RGD-5 or F1.

Somali piracyWeaponry and Funding


AK47 assault rifles

RPG-7 rocket launchers

TT30 Semi automatic pistols.

Somali piracy


Somali pirates, armed with :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Somali_Pirates.jpg

Pirates say ransom money is paid in large denomination US dollar bills.

It is delivered to them in burlap sacks which are either dropped from helicopters or cased in waterproof suitcases loaded onto tiny skiffs.

Ransom money has also been delivered to pirates via parachute, as happened in January 2009 when an orange container with $3 million cash inside it was dropped onto the deck of the supertanker MV Sirus Star to secure the release of ship and crew.

Somali piracyRansom money


To authenticate the bank notes, pirates use currency-counting machines, the same technology used at foreign exchange bureaus worldwide.

These machines are purchased from business connections in Dubai, Djibouti,…

Somali pirates allegedly get help from the : - Somali Diaspora. - Somali expatriates (200,000 Somalis living in Canada).

Somali piracyFunding


Some European and Asian companies have been accused by Somali pirates of dumping toxic waste containers off of the coast of Somalia. The effects of the toxic waste dumping were clear, following the massive tsunami of 2004, in the northern coastal sub-region of Hafun.

Under Article 9(1-d) of the Basel Conventionon the Control of Transboudary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.It is illegal and in contravention of the general

principles of the international law.

Somali piracySovereignty and Environmental Protection


According to Nick Nuttall*:

"Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war.

The European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne."

Somali piracySovereignty and Environmental Protection

* United Nations Environmental Program


Somali pirates have attacked dozens of vessels with a fraction of those attacks resulting in a successful hijacking.

Between the beginning of 2008 and November 19, 2008 there have been 95 attacks which includes 39 successful hijackings.

Most of these attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden but the Somali pirates have been increasing their range and have started attacking ships as far south as off the coast of Kenya.

Somali piracySome Ships Attacked


Somali piracy

The liner's crew deployed a military-grade sonic weapon, capable of causing permanent damage to hearing from a

distance of more than 300 metres.

The IMB has recorded more than 30 hijack attempts in the region of Somalia since March.


These latest attacks followa attempt by pirates

in small boats to the luxury liner,

the Seabourn Spirit, which was steaming some 160km off the Somali coast.

11 November 2005

Reaction to Ships Attacked

IMO and the World Food Program have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.

Piracy has contributed to a rise in shipping costs and shipping insurance premiums, and impeded the delivery of food aid shipments.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on November 20, 2008 proposed by Britain introducing tougher sanctions against Somalia over the country's failure to prevent a surge in sea piracy.

Somali piracyReaction to Ships Attacked


Nations with navy fighting piracy and insurgency are colored green, former in blue, nations with navies contributing to Operation Atalanta in purple; nations with an infantry presence only in red. Somalia is in yellow.



A gunman armed with a long-range machine gun guards a vessel carrying food aid to Somalia.

News :Spanish Boat

Playa de Bakioattacked by Pirates:

- Crew Held Hostage



The Ponant was seized in the Gulf of Aden.

The luxury yacht hadno passengers on board,

but there were 30 crew members.

Somali piracy

On April 12 the crew and the ship were released, apparently after the owner, CMA CGM, paid a ransom.



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Ponant01.jpg

. After the crew was released, French soldiers tracked the

pirates, who were then on land. According to the French military a sniper in a helicopter disabled the engine of a car transporting

the pirates, while another helicopter landed and captured six pirates and recovered some

ransom money.

Somali piracy

On April 13 the six appeared in a French courtin Paris and were charged with, among other things: hostage-taking, hijacking, and theft.



The Military response to pirate attacks has brought about a rare show of unity by countries that are either openly hostile to each other, or at least wary of cooperation, military or otherwise.

As of December 18, 2008, naval ships from19 countries have been deployed in the region

in order to serve as escorts andto deter acts of piracy.



Ships in Service Training Material A-M CHAUVEL Piracy In Somalia 2009.

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