The business of piracy

Mary Harper, a BBC Africa analyst, has written a good piece about the economic impact of piracy in the Somali port of Eyl. Well worth reading.

While in East Africa last year, I was told of the typical ransom sums that Somali pirates receive from hijacking vessels and holding them, and their crews, hostage: A freighter carrying UN food aid garners about $100-150,000 (US). A small container ship can net $750,000. A fishing trawler with a full catch in her holds is worth anywhere from $800,000 to $1.2 million. Ransoms have been as high as $2.5 million. And they have been paid. It's a big business, and a most of that money ends up in the hands of Somali warlords.

For a behind-the-scenes look at how shipowners negotiate with the pirates, check out German journalist Sebastian Rosener's short piece in Bild.

Positive strides in dealing with Somali pirates

To some, this is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, a lighthearted parody of a holiday that is likely being celebrated in bars by a lot of people murmuring "Yarrr" while drinking rum. Perhaps some of those revelers will pause for a moment to remember that piracy remains a very real and very serious problem for thousands of people across the globe, and that the last few weeks have seen some dramatic incidents unfold, including the death of at least one suspected pirate and the arrests of several more.

Yesterday saw the Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec arrive in the port of Mogadishu, Somalia, escorting the freighter Golina which was carrying aid for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The reason for the frigate's journey from Mombasa, Kenya, was to deter pirates from targeting the merchant vessel, and the warship's ability to enter Somali waters marks another small step in addressing the issue of combating the menace of sea robbers.

HMCS Ville de Québec and WFP-chartered freighter Golina (AFP photo)

In the last few years, the shaky entity that is internationally recognized to be the government of Somalia has refused to allow foreign warships to enter its sovereign waters. This has allowed Somali pirates to lurk inside the twelve mile limit of territorial waters, essentially thumbing their noses at warships. Though there are at least eleven vessels, and their crews, currently being held hostage by Somali gangs, this week has seen signs of a more robust effort by the international community when it comes to piracy, at least off the Horn of Africa: First there was the raid by French commandos, then the crew of the Danish frigate Absalon was reported to have captured ten pirate suspects at sea and, finally, the Ville de Québec was allowed to escort the Golina to the pier. What happens in the next few weeks could prove crucial in showing Somali pirates that the West will not allow their attacks to go unanswered.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) has a short piece on the arrival of HMCS Ville de Québec in Somali waters, here.

Western naval forces engage Somali pirates

Earlier today, France sent its military forces into action against Somali pirates, dispatching a team of 30 commandos to free two French nationals being held hostage. One Somali pirate was reported killed and six others captured by the commandos, who rescued Bernadette and Jean-Yves Delanne. The couple had been sailing from Australia to France when their sailboat was attacked on September 2 in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia’s northern coast.

This marks the second time French forces have engaged Somali pirates, the first incident being in response to the hijacking of the luxury cruiser Le Ponant in April. At that time, the French captured six pirates alleged to have been participants in the commandeering of the cruise vessel, taking the Somalis to France where they currently await trial on a variety of charges. The gang that was holding the Delanne couple apparently demanded the release of their pirate brethren from French prison, as well as a ransom of $1.4 million.

On Sunday, another French vessel – a tuna boat – came under rocket fire by pirates while sailing some 400 nautical miles off the Somali coast, in the Indian Ocean. Whether the attack on the fishing boat was related to the capture of the Delannes is not known. But it should be noted that the issue of illegal fishing and over fishing of stocks off Somalia has been the cause of previous pirate incidents.

Meanwhile, the Canadian commander of the Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) had to deploy his own flagship in response to a distress call from another vessel facing pirate attack, just a week ago. The destroyer HMCS Iroquois responded to a Mayday and, with the help of an American naval helicopter, managed to scare off the pirates. Mark MacKinnon of the Globe & Mail has a good piece on the incident and some background on why Canada is currently involved in battling pirates a world away from home.

This more robust response by foreign powers to the problem plaguing the waters off the Horn of Africa is welcomed by many mariners who sail in the region. Skeptics might look at the French actions as being somewhat narrow-minded, focused on the plight of their own citizens, but any increased force protection there can only benefit seafarers from other nations.

Still, there is a definite risk that a two-tiered system of categorizing the victims of piracy is developing. For instance, while those 30 French commandos managed to rescue the Delannes earlier today, a large number of mariners remain hostages of Somali pirates. According to an Amnesty International press release from just last week, 130 crew members are in the custody of various gangs. Yes, they count 130 people being held hostage by Somali pirates. The chances that military forces will free any of them is, unfortunately, slim.

However, if an international consensus can be achieved to regard equally all mariners preyed upon and captured by pirates off the Horn of Africa, then a turning point may come in addressing this situation. It’s not very likely to occur this year, but we may be seeing the start of something new. With luck, things could be dramatically different in a year’s time.

T'is the season

That is, the piracy season off the Horn of Africa. The last week has seen seven attacks on vessels sailing in the Gulf of Aden, continuing a pattern that has developed over the course of the last few years in that region at this time of the year. The reason for this that the monsoons have ended, making the seas calmer for the small boats the pirate gangs in the area use to prey on passing vessels.

Of the seven attacks recorded by the International Maritime Board's Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, five proved unsuccessful. But 25 crew aboard a merchant vessel were robbed by pirates on 3 September. A day earlier, a yacht was hijacked; the IMB has no further information on that incident.

Even the unsuccessful attacks should still be noted with concern, as the pirates appear to have set their sights on larger commercial ships, trying to board a general cargo vessel, two bulk carriers and a couple of tankers. Two of those attacks saw the pirates open fire on their prey with weapons while trying to board the ships.

To give you some idea of how audacious pirates are in that region, one of the attacks centered on a Bahamian-flagged tanker, the Front Voyager. As reported yesterday in the Norwegian media outlet Aftenposten, the 155,100 DWT, Suezmax tanker's crew noticed a small boat approaching their vessel (after having been dispatched from a nearby mothership, according to the PRC). As it neared the Front Voyager, the pirates opened fire with machine guns, damaging the tanker. Coalition naval elements in the area were immediately contacted by the tanker's Master, and the Danish warship Absalon was able to send over a helicopter to scare off the attackers.

Front Voyager

For more on the Absalon, a command and support warship (photo below), see here and here.

A better excuse for no recent postings

Northern Ontario in late summer. Everyone needs to get away once in a while.
More soon...

Canadian navy encounters pirates off Somalia

As reported earlier, the Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec was dispatched to take up station off the northeast coast of Africa, tasked with providing security assistance to vessels carrying United Nations humanitarian relief to Somalia. Their deployment is beginning to prove anything but routine.

Three days ago, the frigate and he crew were in the Kenyan port of Mombasa preparing to leave for Somalia with the merchant vessel MV Abdul Rahman and its cargo of food aid. The frigate's captain, Commander Chris Dickinson met with local officials to discuss the journey and the threats that loomed not far away.

Cmdr Chris Dickinson meeting with Kenyan officials aboard HMCS Ville de Québec, August 18

(source: DND)

MV Abdul Rahman (r.) loading cargo in Mombasa, August 18 (source: DND)

The need to safeguard the delivery of humanitarian aid to Somali by sea has been discussed here frequently. Merchant vessels provide the most efficient means of moving tonnes of food aid between Somalia and Mombasa, which is the key port for storing UN assistance. The problem, of course is that this humanitarian aid has to be delivered through waters that have become the most dangerous as a result of piracy. And the last few days have shown that the threat is as prevalent as ever.

Since the beginning of the week, Somali pirates have managed to hijack four merchant ships, operated by firms from Malaysia, Iran, Japan and Germany. Prior to making port in Mombasa, HMCS Ville de Québec saw at least two of the hijacked vessels on her radar while sailing south from the Red Sea (having sailed over the Atlantic, across the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal from her home port of Halifax). In an interview with Chris Lambie of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald made prior to heading to Somalia with the Abdul Rahman, Cmdr. Dickinson said that "On our radar...we had two vessels that we knew had been taken by pirates." He added that, "So the threat is real. It’s almost eerie coming down that coast and seeing a radar contact with a name on it...and knowing that those vessels are held by pirates."

With the threat assessment as high as the current temperature in that region (35 degrees Celsius with enough humidity to make it seem closer to 50 degrees), the crew of the Canadian warship knows the next few weeks will not be easy as they make runs up and down the East African coast. But the stakes are high for the Somali people, something each of the Canadian sailors is aware of. Perhaps it was put best by 22 year-old Ordinary Seaman Matthew Bergmann, who told Lambie that, "Just one ship is enough to feed a million people. If you can do that in one sail, that’s awesome."

HMCS Ville de Québec (top) with MV Abdul Rahman (Source: DND)
Note how heavily laden the freighter is, with seas washing over her starboard quarter.

Canada and piracy

After a very long absence caused by various travels and more work on my new book about piracy, yours truly has returned. Many thanks to those who have written me and I hope to be able to update you on some of what I've been privy to these last few months.

By sheer coincidence, I'm back on the same day that the Canadian government has announced the dispatching of a naval frigate to the waters off the Horn of Africa, in order to help safeguard the delivery of United Nations food aid to Somalia, aid which has been targeted by pirates in recent years.

The Canadian Navy will be sending the HMCS Ville de Québec to the region because, in the words of Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay, "Food supplies are urgently needed in Somalia but deteriorating security has made delivery difficult by land and sea."

HMCS Ville de Québec (DND photo)

MacKay went on to add that, "Canada is stepping up to the plate by tasking Ville de Québec with the role of escorting World Food Programme ships to ensure their safe arrival at designated ports."

Canada is a major contributor to the UN World Food Programme, so the threat of pirate attacks on vessels carrying that aid represents a clear security issue. About a year ago I interviewed Rear-Admiral Dean McFadden, then commander of Canada's Maritime Forces Atlantic and Joint Task Force Atlantic about the issue of piracy and he was unequivocal in his views on the issue:

"Why should Canadians be concerned about piracy? Because it truly does affect all of us, even if we think otherwise. When aid that has been donated by the people of Canada is intercepted by pirates in, say, Somalia, that's an issue. That aid is vital to the lives of people in the region and if they go hungry, if they become angry, if instability is allowed to continue as a result of those actions, it will become something important here.

"As the make-up of the population in Canada changes, as more people arrive from areas of the world where piracy exists, those immigrants will have an impact on government policy - by taking part in our democratic process and making their voices heard and asking that we do something about these maritime criminals. So what has been an external issue will become a domestic issue."

HMCS Ville de Québec is expected to spend about a month in the region before returning to her homeport of Halifax. On May 2 of this year, RAdm McFadden was replaced as commander of Canada's Atlantic Fleet by Rear-Admiral P.A. Maddison.