. Earth Science News .
PILLAGING PIRATES
Somali pirates get smarter, more ambitious

by Staff Writers
Mogadishu, Somalia (UPI) Feb 2, 2011
Somali pirates have extended the range of their attacks deep into the Indian Ocean, striking up to 2,500 miles from their bases and beyond the reach of international naval forces, and are holding more hijacked ships for ransom, security experts say.

In 2010, pirates captured 49 ships, four more than in 2009, and as of Jan. 24 were holding 24 vessels and their crews for ransom off the Somali coast.

They carried out more attacks "across a larger geographic area in 2010, managed to overcome limitations on their activity by periods of bad weather" by using bigger "mother ships" capable of riding out monsoon storms "and increased their capacity for holding hijacked ships," the global security consultancy Stratfor reported.

"These two trends point to increased sophistication and capability on the part of Somali pirates," the Texas organization concluded in a Jan. 31 assessment.

Over the last year, the most dramatic improvement in the pirates' capabilities has been their ability to strike farther into the Indian Ocean, far from their initial area of operations in the shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen.

"This trend has accelerated as the foreign naval presence in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia has expanded while higher situational awareness among merchant ships in the same area has made piracy there less profitable," Stratfor observed.

The pirates have moved further east to the waters off the Indian subcontinent and south down the coast of East Africa as far as Mozambique, 2,500 miles away.

On Dec. 5, the maritime marauders seized the Bangladeshi-flagged MV Jahan Moni off southern India nearly 1,500 miles east of Somalia. Twenty days later, on Christmas Day, pirates stormed the Taiwanese fishing vessel Shiuh Fu No. 1 northeast of the island of Madagascar.

Only 10 of the successful 49 hijackings in 2010 took place in the Gulf of Aden and only seven occurred in the International Recommended Transit Corridor where international naval forces, including the U.S.-led Task Force 151, are concentrated.

These naval forces have thwarted several pirate attacks but the sea bandits' growing range has taken them out of the danger zone.

Until 2010 the annual monsoon seasons usually meant a drop in attacks because the pirates, who invariably used small boats, were unable to operate in the rough seas between January and March and August through October.

By taking to larger ships capable of riding out heavy seas, the pirates can maintain a year-round strike capability, netting them more ships for ransom.

Nowadays they're converting ships like the Shiuh Fu, the Taiwanese fishing vessel seized in December, into "mother ships" from which they launch the skiffs carrying armed men to storm their victims.

These ships are more seaworthy -- and they don't produce large ransoms like bigger cargo vessels and tankers do.

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of U.S. naval forces in the Indian Ocean, said in Washington Jan. 27 there are up to eight "pirate attack groups" using hijacked vessels as mother ships.

Shipping industry sources said these include the Shiuh Fu, which is suspected of being used for attacks east of Madagascar and the 140-ton Mozambican fishing vessel Vega 5, seized between Mozambique and Madagascar, was spotted Dec. 31 in that area towing what appeared to be pirate skiffs.

"Pirates can hopscotch their way across the Indian Ocean by hijacking larger and larger boats until they capture a prized cargo ship or tanker that can bring in millions of dollars in ransom once secured off the coast of Somalia," Stratfor noted.

Anti-piracy operations have clearly made little lasting impact on the marauders, who have evolved countermeasures to those devised by the international flotillas.

There have been repeated calls for Special Forces operations against pirate bases along Somali's coast to curtail their depredations.

But Western reluctance to get boots on the ground in war-torn Somalia has prevented such operations. Fox, however, says counter-terrorism techniques, including attacking their bases, should be used against the pirates if they are to be crushed.

Shipping companies are hoping that two commando raids by South Korean and Malaysian forces in January that recaptured hijacked ships could signal a tougher line against the pirates.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
21st Century Pirates



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


PILLAGING PIRATES
S.Korea navy kills Somali pirates, saves crew: military
Seoul (AFP) Jan 21, 2011
South Korean navy commandos Friday stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all the 21 crew and killing eight pirates, military officials said. The SEAL special forces boarded the South Korean ship before dawn, freeing all the hostages and killing the pirates in cabin-to-cabin battles, they said. Five others were captured. "This operation demonstrated our g ... read more







PILLAGING PIRATES
'Worst-case' plan saved Australians: officials

New Approach Needed To Prevent Major 'Systemic Failures'

Australia flags taxpayer levy for floods

Designers seek creative solutions to rebuild Haiti

PILLAGING PIRATES
New York Times net profit dips 26 percent

A Cool Way To Make Glass

Google puts iPad in the crosshairs

Google offers Street View art gallery tours

PILLAGING PIRATES
Strange floating 'blob' found off Florida

Oysters disappearing worldwide: study

Amazon's double dry spell worries scientists

Ocean Fertilization: Summary For Policymakers

PILLAGING PIRATES
VIMS Team Glides Into Polar Research

'Hidden Plumbing' Helps Slow Greenland Ice Flow

Study alters Greenland glacier melt view

Scientists Find That Debris On Certain Himalayan Glaciers May Prevent Melting

PILLAGING PIRATES
Sugar prices fall back from 30-year peak

Australia cyclone could cost farming at least $500 million

Innovation Of The Week: Giving Farmers A Reason To Stay

Philippines rice 2010 farm output hit by weather

PILLAGING PIRATES
Narrow escapes from Australia cyclone horror

Australia reels from once-in-a-century cyclone

Death toll from Philippine rains rises to eight

Australia braces for 'worst ever storm'

PILLAGING PIRATES
Nigerian church ordered to stop faith healing ads

Road May Disrupt Migration And Ruin Serengeti

Nigerian army warns troops in volatile central region

China says Sudan referendum a step towards peace

PILLAGING PIRATES
Earliest Middle East cemetery discovered

Technique pulls fingerprints from fabric

New Age Researchers Highlight How Man Is Changing The World

Mathematical Model Explains How Complex Societies Emerge And Collapse


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement