Many raiders claim they got into the hijacking trade because foreign fishing fleets swept Somalia’s waters clean, leaving fishermen and their families destitute. Others say they are actually performing a civic service by patrolling the coastline to prevent Europeans dumping their toxic and chemical waste off Somalia.
The pirates who hijacked the MV Faina with its cargo of T-72s and other heavy weapons, told the New York Times the ransom they demanded for the ship was a “fine” for transporting arms in Somali waters and for “unauthorized and unsanctioned fishing and for the human catastrophe in Somalia.”
There may be some truth in these explanations, but one pirate chief who spoke to reporters by radiophone during ransom negotiations admitted that he and his henchmen were in it for the money alone.
Naval response. The pirate gangs have become a menace to international shipping and commerce, pushing up insurance rates tenfold and increasing shipping costs that ultimately affect the prices consumers must pay. Concern has swelled as the pirates have continued to strike time after time, brazenly indifferent to the handful of warships cruising the sea lanes (most of which are on anti-terrorist patrols that began after 9/11 because al-Qaeda operated in the Horn of Africa and in East Africa).
However, the world’s maritime nations are stirring. France has been the most aggressive so far. President Nicolas Sarkozy sent in the country’s navy and commandoes twice after French vessels were hijacked. At least one pirate was killed during the missions. Six others were captured and now are awaiting trial in France.
According to French Defense Minister Herve Morin, eight European Union members agreed at Deauville on France’s northern coast on Oct. 2 to create a maritime security force to counter piracy. That’s expected to be organized within the next few weeks.
This force, the officials say, would be modeled on an earlier operation to protect convoys carrying World Food Program supplies to famine-swept Somalia. None of the 27 deliveries was attacked, the officials stressed.
In the meantime, the US-led naval force operating in the region established a secure shipping lane. The pirates have nevertheless hijacked ships in that zone, but the coalition has also thwarted at least a dozen attacks.
In addition to the US-led anti-terrorist naval force in the region, NATO has assembled seven ships in the Gulf of Aden: two destroyers from the US and Italy, four frigates from Britain, Germany, Greece and Turkey, and a German auxiliary vessel. A Russian destroyer, the Neustrashimy (Fearless), also arrived in the area in October carrying marines and commandos to support the NATO force.
At time of writing, the British Royal Navy reported that it had killed two pirates in a dhow that had allegedly been harrasing a Danish vessel. It seems that the navies of the world are now set for a showdown with Somalia’s pirates.

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