Posted on 05/07/2010 3:34:32 PM PDT by Faketan
The Horn of Africa has become a hotbed of piracy due to outdated maritime laws, the lack of a Somali government and gut-wrenching poverty.
Where there is a sea, there are pirates. - Greek proverb
To many people, the term "piracy" evokes images of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Until last year piracy was an annoyingly persistent low-level irritant for maritime nations, clustered around several global hotspots, including African waters, the Straits of Malacca and relatively isolated incidents in Latin America.
Last year the problem metastasized in the waters of Somalia, where now a motley international coalition of about 30 warships, including vessels from NATO members Italy, Latvia, Turkey, Greece, the US, the UK, Denmark, Spain and Germany, along with India, France, China, Russia and Japan are attempting to contain the problem. Piracy is now big business: Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula estimates that in 2008 the Somali pirates received $US150 million in ransom payments.
In January the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre stated that 2008 piratical attacks worldwide totaled 293, with 49 vessels hijacked and 889 crew members taken hostage, its highest figures since it began reporting in 1992. Attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters accounted for 111 incidents, an increase of nearly 200 percent from 2007. Nigeria ranked second with 40 reported incidents while the Malacca Straits saw only two attacks in 2008, compared to seven in 2007.
High Profile Incidents
The Ukrainian freighter Faina was seized on 25 September 2008. What focused attention on the ship was its cargo of 33 T-72 tanks and military equipment, ostensibly bound for Kenya. After protracted negotiations which saw an initial ransom demand of US$35 million whittled down to US$3.5 million during the ship's 134-day captivity, the Faina and her 20 crewmen was released on 5 February, but not before her captain had died of apparent natural causes. Full article at: Somalia Pirates
American ship captains and crew get blanket amnesty. And if the World Court doesn't like my solution, well, B-2s and smart bombs work over The Hague, too.
The sharks in the straits around the Horn of Africa would be happy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.