Somali Pirate Attacks

Pirates in Somalia have had major advancements so far in 2011. Since 2008, pirates have been hijacking vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. They target wealthy families who are travelling by sea on yachts. The pirates threaten people with weapons and give the travelers no chance to negotiate before capturing them and ransoming them for up to millions of dollars before releasing them.

Pirate’s demands for ransom payments have increase drastically over past years. According to The Maritime Reporter, in 2009, $150,000 was demanded which is a small amount compared to 2010’s $5.4 million demand.

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Who are these pirates and where did they come from? According to a website about Somalia Pirate History, the average pirate is between 20-35 years old. They come from Puntland, which is in Northeast Somalia. There are at least five pirate gangs and over 1,000 individual pirates.

Businessman Mark Mulcahy is disappointed by the United States’ lack of control over the situation.

“I am absolutely appalled that a group of unsophisticated barbarians could get away with this in this day and age. It all stems from a country’s in ability to maintain control and order. The attacks affect us by serving as an example of what can go wrong when order is not maintained. It’s disturbing that with all the technology we have and the money spent globally on making the world a safer place, Pirate attacks can still happen,” Mulcahy said.

Now the US military is patrolling the seas and working to protect these travelling Americans. Fifteen neighboring countries have worked to patrol these pirates but none have been successful. Recently, a Pirate was tried and sentenced to thirty-three years in prison. In retaliation, pirates are letting Americans know that they will leave every hostage from here on out dead, unless we agree to free the Somali’s we imprisoned.

On Feb. 22, 2011, Somalia pirates killed four American hostages. The pirates fired a grenade at the yacht carrying two couples, one of which had been traveling around and handing out bibles since 2004. According to The Huffington Post, a pirate named Muse Abdi explained that from now on, all hostages will be killed and rescuers will only find dead bodies. Pirates currently hold 30 ships and 660 hostages. Pirates win millions of dollars in ransom money for releasing their hostages. They spend the money on alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. Two days later, on Feb. 24, 2011, pirates captured seven more people, three of whom are children. The U.S. military is currently monitoring the situation and doing everything in their power to prevent the hostages being taken to land.

Picture taken in Feb. 2009 by the U.S. Navy of suspected pirates.

Mulcahy has the funds to travel but when planning this year’s vacation, he will steer far away from these pirate infested waters.

“I would be intimidated to travel there. It seems like one is tempting fate and unless you are a thrill seeker, I would not put myself or family in harm’s way. The east coast of Africa is like the wild, Wild West, only it’s 2011. I am sure it’s a relatively small number of pirates compared to the masses in general (one bad apple scenario) but there is too much uncertainly, unrest and lack of due process that makes this area not desirable to travel to,” Mulcahy said.

Why do these attacks keep occurring? There’s no government in Somalia and basically nobody fully controlling that area of the world. Therefore, there has been nobody to govern the pirates and no way to bring them to justice. Furthermore, Somalia is also an extremely violent country.

In the beginning of April, 50 year old Mohammad Shibin was captured on land by the FBI. He was the first pirate to be caught on land. After capturing him, the FBI brought him to the United States where he was prosecuted.

Although small steps are being made in the right direction to stop pirates from destroying the lives of American travelers, the United States government and military are still far from putting a complete halt to the hijackings.

People on a yacht that was taken hostage by Somali pirates. Photo taken by U.S. Navy

In fact, some people even believe that these cases of hostages relates to other matters of terrorism.

“This is the same thing as terrorism. They’re small group of radicals that seemingly play by their own rules without consideration for human life. Just like terrorist, pirates have a safe haven that that does not condemn their actions but actually condones them. The only difference is that terrorists can strike anywhere, pirates can only strike on the coast of Africa,” said a pre-med major, Alvin Thomas.