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| Africa Horn |
| Pirate Victims Finance More Attacks With $100 Million in Ransom |
| 2008-11-24 |
| A few years ago, Somali pirates menacing Africa’s east coast sometimes demanded tens of thousands of dollars for the safe return of a hijacked vessel and crew. Now they often seek $1 million or more. The reason: Ship owners keep paying. “If you do pay, you are continuing to encourage future attacks,” said Pat Adamson, an official at MTI Network, a London-based crisis-management company that has advised the owners of most of the hijacked ships. Unless there is a cash payment, “your seafarers will lose their lives.” A fresh example of owners acceding to ransom demands emerged on Nov. 22, when Mare Maritime Co. SA said it had paid a sum it declined to disclose to free its Greek chemical tanker, the MV Genius, and 19 crew members almost two months after Somali pirates seized them in the Gulf of Aden. Last week, pirates demanded a record $25 million for the Saudi Arabia-owned Sirius Star seized off the coast on Nov. 15 -- $1 million for each crew member. The ship also holds more than 2 million barrels of crude worth about $100 million, probably covered by insurance. Negotiations on that ransom are “still ongoing,” said Andrew Mwangura, head of the East Africa Seafarers Association, said by phone from Mombasa. Hijackings by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden region have leaped this year, with more than 581 crew members taken hostage from January to September, compared with 172 in all of 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Before the Sirius Star incident, ransom demands had hovered between $500,000 and $2 million, up from tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars “in recent years,” said Chatham House, the London-based international affairs group, in a report last month. The increasing income does more than just make the pirates more brazen. The more ransom they receive, the more sophisticated their operations become, said Will Geddes, managing director of ICP Group, a London-based security company. Geddes estimates Somali pirates may have accumulated $100 million in ransom since the 1990s, booty that will make their attacks more effective. “These boys can buy some fast, powerful boats, which can get them out quickly and easily into the channel,” he said. The Somali pirates also have access to “the perfect arms fair” -- Mogadishu, the capital of a nation wracked by civil war since the 1991 ouster of Mohammed Siad Barre. It occurs to me that 'supply' of piracy will never saturate the demand side of the equation; the willingness of shipowners to pay ransoms, and piracy may well be a permanent feature of the region for the foreseeable future or at least until Somalia gets sorted out, which won't be any time soon. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #10 Is there going to be a bailout for the pirate unions if they can't raise ransoms anymore because of hard times? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-11-24 14:18 |
| #9 Why don't we declare that any ship that sail under US registration, will get the full support and protection of our military? Because, Richard, our Congress has added so many rules, regulations, stipulations and restrictions on shipping that US-flagged shipping is all but dead. That's why so many of these ships are registered under "flags of convenience". ALL US-flagged ships have to have at least two officers who have graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy, all but the lowest ABs have to belong to the Merchant Seamans' Union, there are so many regulations, many of which contradict one another, that they add MILLIONS to the cost of running a ship. Again, go back and "thank" FDR for most of this sh$$. The three presidents who have done the most to damage this country were Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and Jimmy Carter. Billy Cliton doesn'teven make the cut. Obama has a LONG way to go to outdo any of these three. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-11-24 13:34 |
| #8 just pay the Indians too do it . I t would be cheaper and you wouldn't have too hear the human rights ppl bitching |
| Posted by: chris 2008-11-24 13:01 |
| #7 As I understand it, nearly all ships sail under 'flags of convenience'. Why don't we declare that any ship that sail under US registration, will get the full support and protection of our military? Seems like it might be good for business. The pirates seem easy enough for us to quickly bring under control. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-11-24 12:47 |
| #6 I'll say it again: "Pirate is Somali for Al Qaeda." |
| Posted by: WilliamMarcyTweed 2008-11-24 11:56 |
| #5 Saudis can just say they and theirs for 3 generations will not be permitted hajji to Mecca. (sort of like the pope excommunicating somebody in the middle ages...) If they don't respond - underlings or family might. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-11-24 11:18 |
| #4 Egypt could lose millions in revenue from the Canal. People are willing to pay a tenth or more of a billion dollars for protection, but not a cent for defense. They have it backwards. We do not need a land invasion. Just a flyby with lots of ordinance. The Saudis ought to grab one of their handy Imams and issue a fatwa against Muslims committing piracy aginst fellow muslims. Worth a try, but in the meantime, hire some mercs to deal with the pirates. Hedging your bets, so to speak. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-11-24 11:15 |
| #3 When, oh when will people learn that allowing and paying for bullies to exist will bring about only more bulling? I swear, this issue is as old as humankind and we still haven't learned from our mistakes. Sink everything that isn't registered, arc-light the "safe havens" and ports and let the villagers know if they harbor pirates, their village gets plowed under too. I guarantee this shit would end nearly overnight. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-11-24 09:39 |
| #2 ...or international shipping through the area comes to a halt as insurers refuse to issue paper. Over grazing has a tendency to leave the land barren, and the grazer usually doesn't take note of the decline till its too late. Pirates meet the Tragedy of the Commons. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-11-24 09:02 |
| #1 IIRC, ION NOT-CAPT-JACK SPARROW see REDDIT > RUSSIA has proposed that an INTERNATIONAL/JOINT COALITION OF STATES mount major LAND ATTACK OPERS AGZ SOMALI PIRATE BASES??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-11-24 01:57 |