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No breakthrough in fighting Somali pirates
Published: 21 May, 2010, 08:31
Edited: 21 May, 2010, 23:07
Russia is preparing to start negotiations to free two of its sailors captured by pirates last weekend.
The captain and chief engineer from the ship North Spirit were kidnapped in a port in Cameroon by gunmen.
The vessel's owner says they are now being held in Nigeria. The kidnapping happened about a week after a Russian navy ship freed another vessel, which had been seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
On May 5, the Russian oil tanker Moscow University was captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia. As the crew barricaded themselves in, the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov came to the rescue. Navy commandos engaged the pirates in a gunfight and boarded the ship, defeating the pirates without loss of hostages or navy personnel.
But despite this success, there have been no celebrations aboard the Marshal Shaposhnikov. This Russian warship is one of dozens patrolling the Gulf of Aden.
Over the past two years the firepower, resources and media attention dedicated to fighting piracy in the region has been stepped up. But in individual operations are a drop in the ocean, and on the whole the pirates have not been scared off.
Last year there were fifty hijackings, with the same number predicted for 2010. In order to avoid putting the hostages at risk, governments and companies end up paying multi million-dollar ransoms.
Nearly lawless, Somalia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The success of the pirates is attracting more people into seafaring gangs.
Russian commandos say their enemies have become better trained and equipped.
“The pirates are drugged up and unpredictable. We have found out from them that they used to be offered $50 for each successful expedition. Now they are being offered $300,” says special team commander Lt. Colonel Andrey Ezhov.
Another problem is what to do with the pirates once they are captured. Since there is no chance they can be tried in Somalia, some captors have flown them to their own countries, or sent them to neighboring states.
Marshal Shaposhnikov's captain chose a different solution – he released the captives at sea with a supply of water, but no weapons or navigation equipment.
Commanders say that communication between international naval forces has improved greatly. But the pirates have responded.
“The transport corridor is chock-full of warships. But the pirates have simply moved further to the East, where we cannot monitor them,” said Captain Ildar Akhmerov, a Russian Naval Task Force Commander.
With 25,000 ships coming through the area each year, piracy will remain lucrative and hard to avoid. And in order to safeguard a key economic route, more extensive measures may be required from the world's powers.
21.05.2010, 07:40
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21.05.2010, 10:53
8 comments
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Its unbelivable...ships from many states are there and yet they can not stop pirates!Sometimes this piracy look like a bad joke... In my opinion all states who really wish to stop piracy, shall work out proper policy how to achive their goal to secure this waterways .All ships must act as one Navy... Chess is intresting game and unless you cover all your fields and coordinate moves-security will not be any better. I am aware that "field" to cover is huge but still you got all tools at hand(bring more ships if you need more)for hijackers to outsmart you over and over...Sometimes I think that piracy is not no.1 target or purpose for all of this ships there but rather as excuse for something else. Thank you.
Well our govts on this planet are thick as two planks of wood.They philosopy is, they going to educate the pirates.terrorist ,etc.etc.Oh well let our comediens carry on.The laugh is on them.although I feel sorry for our Military forces.There is an effective cure.Reduce the port to rubble,blow apart any vessel fishing or any non western boats in the harbour. and around it shores..Ps They done this centuries ago,oh well we have all these educated morons about today.
For reasons which are not clear Russia has refused to see the piracy in the Horn of Africa is part of much larger crisis in the Horn of Africa. Many of the EU nations -including France and Spain- have 7Billion dollar high quality lucrative Tuna industry in the Horn of Africa. Removing pirates for France and Spain means also removing Somali fishermen and protecting French and Spanish fishing boats in these waters. The UNSC is silent on this issue. Thus, key members of NATO, the war against Somali pirates has also been used as a cover for the presence of factory trawlers which are wrecking war ecology and precious marine resources in the waters of the Horn of Africa. Russia has refused to bring the thorny issues of illegal toxic waste dumping and illegal fishing as part of comprehensive strategy against piracy in the Horn of Africa in the UNSC meetings. The local people are almost never invited to meeting on Piracy in the Horn of Africa. Now we see the piracy is spreading to central Africa such as Cameron in the Atlantic Ocean. It is ironic that during the Cold War the Soviet Union protected vulnerable African people from capitalist vultures but today Russia has very little interests in protecting the rights of the African people. Today Russia's economic elite are interested primarily making economic deals. I am slowly coming to terms of that the new Russian mentality toward Africa and it does not look very promising. I have no sympathy for the pirates even though deep down it looks crude and inhumane the way Russia’s navy recently dumped pirates in the middle of the ocean knowing full well they would drown. But Russia shows more eagerness to play along the NATO geopolitics than to take its own position on how to best confront the menace of sea piracy in and off the Horn of Africa.