The Perils of Sea Piracy

The perils of sea piracy

It may well be a great anachronism of modern times. Sea pirates had their golden age centuries ago. Think again. The first decade of the 21st century is the new golden age for the pirates. The profits are huge. The risks are comparatively lower. The world is saddled with so many problems that piracy does not seem to figure prominently on the international community’s radar screens. And not to be forgotten, lawless regions of countries like Somalia provide safe havens to the pirates. The extent of piracy in the contemporary world can be gauged by the fact that an estimated 5.9 merchant ships are attacked per every 1,000 voyages.

A new trend witnessed in last few years is that pirates are now using “mother vessels” to launch attacks at great distances from coast. The mother vessel is able to proceed deep into the sea to launch smaller boats or skiffs to attack and hijack passing vessels.

Some of these attacks have taken place more than 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast (towards Indian west and south coast in the Indian Ocean). In the past couple of years, pirates are also attacking vessels close to the coast of Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen and Oman. The Somali pirates continue to threaten the southern part of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden including the Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean.

November 15, 2008 will go down in the history of modern piracy as a black day when the pirates demonstrated their capability to launch a successful operation in deep sea against a very large crude carrier (VLCC).

Somali pirates attacked and captured Saudi VLCC Sirius Star about 450 nautical miles southeast of the Kenyan coast. The vessel was a virtual floating oil well as it was loaded with $100 million worth two million barrels of oil, more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output. The incident marked many firsts in the history of modern piracy.

It was the first time when the pirates had gone to the high seas (obviously VLCCs can’t sail in shallow waters). The attack signified that the pirates had extended their reach to over a million square miles. The pirates had done their homework well and were well-stocked and prepared enough to travel for over three days in the high seas to reach the target.

Besides, the Sirius Star with 25-member crew on board was sailing far away from the Gulf of Aden that made it beyond the reach of the international fighter ships that were patrolling in the Gulf of Aden.

It was also the first time when such a large fully-laden vessel carrying very high-value US-bound merchandise was targeted and captured. Also, the pirates extracted a whopping sum of $3 million as ransom, though the first ransom figure they had quoted was as high as $25 million.

The vessel and the crew were released almost two months later on January 9, 2009. Besides, the seizure of Sirius Star brought the world face to face with a possible environmental disaster as the pirates could have sunk the oil-laden ship if their diktats were not accepted. Perhaps this was the reason why the US Navy chose not to intervene in the matter.

Another worrisome pirate attack was to follow days after the Sirius Star was released. This time militants from Nigeria struck terror in the high seas. On January 21, 2009, militants associated with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) attacked MT Meredith, a tanker carrying 4000 tons of diesel. The MEND militants blew up the vessel’s engine with dynamite. The incident showed that the Nigerians were still on the piracy radar screens, though they had been overshadowed by the exploits of the Somalis. According to the International Maritime Bureau, the Somali pirates attacked over 10 vessels in 2008, while the Nigerian pirates were less busy comparatively with 35 attacks in that year.

The situation is no better in 2010. Consider the following figures for piracy and armed robbery incidents as reported to the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre in 2010.

Maritime piracy is an international menace and has to be dealt with internationally. No single country can take on the pirates who have attacked at will and have not spared even P5 countries. The international community must be well aware of the fact that the business of maritime piracy has thrived in recent years and is set to turn deadlier in the coming days largely because of lack of a concerted diplomatic and military response from the comity of nations.

Already there are indications that global terror outfits are eyeing the relative ease and impunity with which the pirates have been conducting their business. The world needs to act now and act fast. Or else the war against piracy will be not very different from the war against terrorism -- a ‘one step forward, two steps backwards’ kind of war.