Piracy in Somalia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Piracy off the coast of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

has been a threat to international shipping

Ship transport

Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods . Sea transport has been the largest carrier of freight throughout recorded history. Although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises...

since the second phase of the Somali Civil War

Somali Civil War

The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. The conflict, which began in 1991, has caused destabilisation throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to rebel forces...

in the early 21st century. Since 2005, many international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization

International Maritime Organization

The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...

and the World Food Programme

World Food Programme

The World Food Programme is the food aid branch of the United Nations, and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger worldwide. WFP provides food, on average, to 90 million people per year, 58 million of whom are children...

, have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy

Piracy

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

.
Piracy has impeded the delivery of shipments and increased shipping expenses, costing an estimated £10 billion a year in global trade. According to the German Institute for Economic Research

German Institute for Economic Research

The German Institute for Economic Research, German Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung is one of the leading economic research institutes in Germany. It is an independent, non-profit academic institution which is involved in basic research and policy advice...

(DIW), a veritable industry of profiteers has also risen around the piracy. Insurance companies

Insurance

In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...

, in particular, have profited from the pirate attacks, as insurance premiums have increased significantly.

A United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

report and several news sources have suggested that piracy off the coast of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

is caused in part by illegal fishing. According to the DIW and the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, the dumping of toxic waste

Toxic waste

Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...

in Somali waters by foreign vessels has also severely constrained the ability of local fishermen to earn a living and forced many to turn to piracy instead. Other articles allege that 70 percent of the local coastal communities "strongly support the piracy as a form of national defense of the country's territorial waters", and that the pirates believe they are protecting their fishing grounds and exacting justice and compensation for the marine resources stolen. Some pirates have suggested that, in the absence of an effective national coast guard

Coast guard

A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...

following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War

Somali Civil War

and the subsequent disintegration of the Armed Forces

Military of Somalia

The Military of Somalia was, up until 1991, made up of the army, navy, air force, and air defense command. The outbreak of the Somali Civil War during that year led to the de facto dissolution of the national armed forces. However, efforts to re-establish a regular armed force by a re-constituted...

, they became pirates in order to protect their waters. This belief is also reflected in the names taken on by some of the pirate networks, such as the National Volunteer Coast Guard (NVCG). However, as piracy has become substantially more lucrative in recent years, some reports are suggesting that financial gain is now the primary motive for Somali pirates.

Combined Task Force 150

Combined Task Force 150

Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...

, a multinational coalition task force, took on the role of fighting Somali piracy by establishing a Maritime Security Patrol Area

Maritime Security Patrol Area

The Maritime Security Patrol Area is specified patrol zone in the Gulf of Aden. Its borders are unmarked, but are a narrow, rectangular corridor between Somalia and Yemen, within the northern sector of the gulf...

(MSPA) within the Gulf of Aden. The increasing threat posed by piracy has also caused concern in India since most of its shipping trade routes pass through the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Navy

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

responded to these concerns by deploying a warship in the region on 23 October 2008. In September 2008, Russia announced that it too would join international efforts to combat piracy. Some reports have also accused certain government officials in Somalia of complicity with the pirates, with authorities from the Galmudug

Galmudug

Galmudug is an autonomous region in central Somalia. It is bordered to its north by the Puntland region, to the west by Ethiopia, and to the south by other regions of Somalia.Galmudug's name is derived from a conflation of the Galguduud and Mudug provinces...

administration in the north-central Hobyo

Hobyo

Hobyo is an ancient harbor city in the Mudug region of Somalia. Hobyo literally means "here, water", and the plentiful fresh water to be had from the wells in and around the town has been the driving force behind Hobyo's ancient status as a favorite port-of-call for sailors.-Establishment:Hobyo's...

district reportedly attempting to use pirate gangs as a bulwark against Islamist insurgents from the nation's southern conflict zones. However, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, both the former and current administrations of the autonomous Puntland

Puntland

Puntland , officially the Puntland State of Somalia , is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998....

region in northeastern Somalia appear to be more actively involved in combating piracy. The latter measures include on-land raids on pirate hideouts, and the construction of a new naval base in conjunction with Saracen International, a UK-based security company. By the first half of 2010, these increased policing efforts by Somali government authorities on land and international naval vessels at sea reportedly contributed to a drop in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden from 86 a year prior to 33, forcing pirates to shift attention to other areas such as the Somali Basin and the wider Indian Ocean. As of 21 November 2011, Somali pirates were holding at least 10 large ships with an estimated 243 hostages.

History

During the Siad Barre

Siad Barre

Mohamed Siad Barre was the military dictator and President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad ....

regime, Somalia received aid from Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, USSR and West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

to develop its fishing industry. Prior to this Somali fishing was very limited and close to shore. Fishermen were looked down on by herders and urban workers. Cooperatives had fixed prices for their catch, which was often exported due to the low demand for seafood

Seafood

Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...

in Somalia. Aid money improved the ships and supported the construction of maintenance

Maintenance, Repair and Operations

Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...

facilities. After the fall of the Barre regime, the income from fishing decreased due to the Somali Civil War.

With the collapse of the central government, the Somali Navy

Somali Navy

-Pre-Independence :During the pre-independence period, the Somali Navy was established in conjunction with the Italian Navy, the latter of which also helped maintain security in Somali waters.-Post-Independence :...

ceased to exist as a fighting force. With Somali waters undefended, foreign fishing trawlers began illegally fishing in Somali waters, and ships from big companies began dumping waste off Somalia, killing fish. This led to the erosion of the fish stock

Fish stock

Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters are the only significant factors in determining population dynamics, while extrinsic factors are considered to be insignificant.-The stock concept:All species have geographic limits to their...

. Local fishermen started to band together to protect their resources. Although most of these early defensive forays went unreported, the first recorded incident of modern piracy off the coast of Somalia occurred on May 10, 1991 near Mombasa

Mombasa

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

, when Somali Patriotic Movement

Somali Patriotic Movement

The Somali Patriotic Movement is a political party and paramilitary organization in Somalia, and a key faction in the Somali Civil War. Commanded by Aden Abdullahi Nur Gabyow, it was based in the southwestern area of the country, and had considerable influence in the leaderless country...

(SPM) militiamen hijacked a vessel belonging to the Somali Police Force

Somali Police Force

The Somali Police Force is the national police force and the main civil law enforcement agency of Somalia.-History:In 1960, the British Somaliland Scouts joined with the Police Corps of Somalia to form a new Somali Police Force, which consisted of about 3,700 men...

that was transporting refugees to safer shores.

Some pirates are former fishermen, whose livelihoods were hurt by foreign ships illegally fishing in Somali waters. Most of the pirates, observers say, are not former fishermen. After seeing the profitability of piracy, since ransoms are usually paid, warlord

Warlord

A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...

s began to facilitate pirate activities, splitting the profits with the pirates.In most of the hijackings, the pirates have not harmed their prisoners.

Pirates have even attacked World Food Program ships carrying humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...

to Somalia. As a result, international warships began escorting aid shipments into port.

The Transitional Federal Government

Transitional Federal Government

The Transitional Federal Government is the current internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the Transitional...

has made some efforts to combat piracy, occasionally allowing foreign naval vessels into Somali territorial waters. However, more often than not, foreign naval vessels chasing pirates were forced to break off when the pirates entered Somali territorial waters. To counter this, in 2008 (and renewed each year since then) the UN passed a resolution allowing international warships to pursue pirates into Somali territorial waters. On the advice of lawyers, the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

and other international naval forces have often released suspected pirates that they have captured because, although the men are frequently armed, they have not been caught engaging in acts of piracy and have thus not technically committed a crime. The government of Puntland

Puntland

has made more progress in combating piracy, evident in recent interventions.

Summary of recent events

Somali pirates have attacked hundreds of vessels in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region, though most attacks do not result in a successful hijacking. In 2008, there were 111 attacks which included 42 successful hijackings. However, this is only a fraction of the up to 30,000 merchant vessels which pass through that area. The rate of attacks in January and February 2009 was about 10 times higher than during the same period in 2008 and "there have been almost daily attacks in March", with 79 attacks, 21 successful, by mid April. Most of these attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden but the Somali pirates have been increasing their range and have started attacking ships as far south as off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. Below are some notable pirate events which have garnered significant media coverage since 2007.

On 28 May 2007, a Chinese sailor was killed by the pirates because the ship's owners failed to meet their ransom demand.

On 5 October 2008, the United Nations Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

adopted resolution 1838

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1838

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1838 is a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls on nations with vessels in the Somali piracy region to apply military force as a means of repressing acts of piracy. Adopted unanimously on October 7, 2008, it recommends that states commit...

calling on nations with vessels in the area to apply military force to repress the acts of piracy. At the 101st council of the International Maritime Organization, India called for a United Nations

United Nations

peacekeeping

Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....

force under unified command to tackle piracy off Somalia. (There has been a general and complete arms embargo against Somalia

United Nations Security Council Resolution 751

United Nations Security Council Resolution 751, adopted unanimously on April 24, 1992, after reaffirming resolutions 733 and 746 and considering a report by the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on the ongoing civil war in Somalia, the Council established a United Nations Operation in...

since 1992.)

On 21 November 2008, BBC News reported that the Indian Navy had received United Nations approval to enter Somali waters to combat piracy.

In November 2008, Somali pirates began hijacking ships well outside the Gulf of Aden, perhaps targeting ships headed for the port of Mombasa

Mombasa

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. The frequency and sophistication of the attacks also increased around this time, as did the size of vessels being targeted. Large cargo ships, oil and chemical tankers on international voyages became the new targets of choice for the Somali hijackers. This is in stark contrast to the pirate attacks which were once frequent in the Strait of Malacca

Strait of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 to 1511.-Extent:...

, another strategically important waterway for international trade, which were according to maritime security expert Catherine Zara Raymond

Catherine Zara Raymond

Catherine Zara Raymond is an international maritime security expert. She is an Associate at the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies, based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.-Career:...

, generally directed against "smaller, more vulnerable vessels carrying trade across the Straits or employed in the coastal trade on either side of the Straits."

On 19 November 2008, the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

warship INS Tabar sank a suspected pirate mothership. Later, it was claimed to be a Thai trawler being hijacked by pirates. The Indian Navy later defended its actions by stating that they were fired upon first.

On 8 April 2009, four Somali pirates seized the Maersk Alabama

MV Maersk Alabama

MV Maersk Alabama is a container ship owned by Maersk Line Limited and operated by Waterman Steamship Corporation....

240 nmi (444.5 km; 276.2 mi) southeast of the Somalia port city of Eyl

Eyl

Eyl is an ancient town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia. It is situated near the Hafun peninsula.-History:Eyl is the site of many historical artifacts from Somalia's pre-colonial period...

. The ship was carrying 17,000 metric tons of cargo, of which 5,000 metric tons were relief supplies bound for Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. On 12 April 2009, United States Navy SEAL

United States Navy SEALs

The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...

snipers killed the three pirates that were holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage aboard a lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama after determining that Captain Phillips' life was in immediate danger. A fourth pirate, Abdul Wali Muse, surrendered and was taken into custody. On May 18, a federal grand jury

Grand jury

A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...

in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

returned a ten-count indictment

Indictment

An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

against him.

On 20 April 2009, United States Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...

commented on the capture and release of 7 Somali pirates by Dutch Naval forces who were on a NATO mission. After an attack on the Handytankers Magic, a petroleum tanker, the Dutch frigate tracked the pirates back to a pirate "mother ship" and captured them. They confiscated the pirates' weapons and freed 20 Yemeni fishermen whom the pirates had kidnapped and who had been forced to sail the pirate "mother ship". Since the Dutch Naval Forces were part of a NATO exercise, but not on an EU mission, they lacked legal jurisdiction to keep the pirates so they released them. Clinton stated that this action "sends the wrong signal" and that additional coordination was needed among nations.

On 23 April 2009, international donors pledged over $250 million for Somalia, including $134 million to increase the African Union peacekeeping mission from 4,350 troops to 8,000 troops and $34 million for Somali security forces.Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...

told delegates at a donors' conference sponsored by the U.N. that "Piracy is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground", and that "More security on the ground will make less piracy on the seas." Somali President Sharif Ahmed

Sharif Ahmed

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is the current President of Somalia and former Commander in Chief of the Islamic Courts Union .-Biography:...

pledged at the conference that he would fight piracy and to loud applause said that "It is our duty to pursue these criminals not only on the high seas, but also on terra firma". The Somali government has not gone after pirates because pirate leaders currently have more power than the government. It has been estimated by piracy experts that in 2008 the pirates gained about $80 million through ransom payments.

On 2 May 2009, Somali pirates captured the MV Ariana with its 24 Ukrainian crew. The ship was released on 10 December 2009 after a ransom of almost $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

3,000,000 was paid.

On 8 November 2009, Somali pirates threatened that a kidnapped British couple, the Chandlers, would be "punished" if a German warship did not release seven pirates. Omer, one of the pirates holding the British couple, claimed the seven men were fishermen, but a European Union Naval Force spokesman stated they were captured as they fired AK-47

AK-47

The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...

assault rifles at a French fishing vessel

Fishing vessel

A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing....

. The Chandlers were released on 14 November 2010 after 388 days of captivity. At least two ransom payments, reportedly over GBP

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

500 000, had been made.

In April 2010, the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

(CIA) alluded to possible covert and overt action against the pirates. CIA officials had been publicly warning of this potential threat for months. In a Harpers Magazine
Harpers Magazine
Harpers Wine and Spirit Trade Review or simply Harpers is a British fortnightly publication for the wine and spirit industry. Founded in 1878, it has a circulation of 5,224 fully subscribed readers. It is read across all sectors of the drinks industry including producers, distributors,...

article, a CIA official said, "We need to deal with this problem from the beach side, in concert with the ocean side, but we don't have an embassy in Somalia and limited, ineffective intelligence operations. We need to work in Somalia and in Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, where a lot of the ransom money has changed hands. But our operations in Lebanon are a joke, and we have no presence at all in Somalia."

On 11 May 2010 Somali pirates seized a Bulgarian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Aden. The Panega, with 15 Bulgarian crew members aboard, was en route from the Red Sea to India or Pakistan. This was the first such hijacking of a Bulgarian-flagged ship. On 12 May 2010, Athens announced that Somali pirates have seized a Greek vessel in the Gulf of Aden with at least 24 people on board, including two Greek citizens and some Filipinos. The vessel, sailing under the Liberian flag, was transporting iron from Ukraine to China.

On 14 January 2011, while speaking to reporters, Commodore

Commodore (rank)

Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

Michiel Hijmans of the Royal Netherlands Navy

Royal Netherlands Navy

The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

stated that the use of hijacked vessels in more recent hijackings had led to increased range of pirating activities, as well as difficulty to actively thwart future events due to the use of kidnapped sailors as human shields.

On 15 January 2011 thirteen Somali pirates seized the Samho Jewelry

Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden

Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden was a naval operation by the Republic of Korea Navy against Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea. The operation was spurred by the pirates' seizure of the South Korean chemical tanker Samho Jewelry. In response, the South Korean government sent a destroyer and 30 naval...

, a Maltese-flagged chemical carrier operated by Samho Shipping, 650 km southeast of Muscat

Muscat, Oman

Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...

. The Republic of Korea Navy

Republic of Korea Navy

The Republic of Korea Navy or the ROK Navy is the branch of the South Korean armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations and amphibious landing operations. The ROK Navy includes the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, which is a quasi-autonomous organization...

destroyer Choi Young

ROKS Choi Young (DDH-981)

ROKS Choi Young is a Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer in the South Korean navy. It is named after the Korean general Choe Yeong.-Design:...

shadowed the Samho Jewlry for several days. In the early morning of 21 January 2011, 25 ROK Navy SEALs on small boats launched from the Choi Young boarded the Samho Jewelry while the Choi Youngs Westland Super Lynx provided covering fire. Eight pirates were killed and five captured in the operation; the crew of 21 was freed with the Captain suffering a gunshot wound to the stomach.

On 28 January 2011, an Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard is a branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Its mission is the protection of India's maritime interests and maritime law enforcement with jurisdiction over both territorial and international waters....

aircraft while responding to a distress call from the CMA CGM Verdi, located two skiffs attempting a piracy attack near Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...

. Seeing the aircraft, the skiffs immediately aborted their piracy attempt and dashed towards the mother vessel, MV Prantalay 14 – a hijacked Thai trawler, which hurriedly hoisted the two skiffs on board and moved westward. The Indian Navy

Indian Navy

deployed the INS Cankarso

Car Nicobar class fast attack craft

The Car Nicobar class of high-speed offshore patrol vessels are built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers for the Indian Navy. The vessels are designed as a cost-effective platform for patrol, anti-piracy and rescue operations in India's Exclusive Economic Zone.The class and its vessels are...

which located and engaged the mothership 100 nautical miles north of the Minicoy

Minicoy

Minicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...

island. 10 pirates were killed while 15 were apprehended and 20 Thai

Thai people

The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...

and Myanmarese fishermen being held aboard the ship as hostages were rescued.

Within a week of its previous success, the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

captured another hijacked Thai

Thai people

trawler, MV Prantalay 11 and captured 28 pirates aboard in an operation undertaken by the INS Tir

INS Tir (A86)

INS Tir is the first dedicated Cadet's Training Ship to be built by Mazagon Dock Limited and commissioned as such by the Indian Navy. She is the senior ship of the 1st Training Squadron of the Southern Naval Command....

purusuant to receiving information that a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

merchant ship had been attacked by pirates on board high-speed boats, although it had managed to avoid capture. When INS Tir ordered the pirate ship to stop and be boarded for inspection, it was fired upon. The INS Tir returned fire in which 3 pirates were injured and caused the pirates to raise a white flag indicating their surrender. The INS Tir subsequently joined by CGS Samar of the Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard

. Officials from the Indian Navy reported that a total of 52 men were apprehended, but that 24 are suspected to be Thai fishermen who were hostages of the 28 African pirates.

In late February 2011, piracy targeting smaller yachts and collecting ransom made headlines when four Americans were killed aboard their vessel, the Quest, by their captors, while a military ship shadowed them. A federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, sentenced three members of the gang that seized the yacht to life imprisonment.
On 24 February 2011 a Danish family on a yacht were captured by pirates.

In March 2011, the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

intercepted a pirate mother vessel 600 nautical miles west of the Indian coast in the Arabian Sea on Monday and rescued 13 hostages. Sixty-one pirates have also been caught in the operation carried out by Navy's INS Kalpeni

Car Nicobar class fast attack craft

.

In late March 2011, Indian Navy

Indian Navy

seized 16 Somali pirates after a three-hour-long battle in the Arabian Sea, The navy also rescued 16 crew members of a hijacked Iranian ship west of the Lakshadweep Islands. The crew included 12 Iranians and four Pakistanis.

In early May 2010, Russian special forces retook a Russian oil tanker that had been hijacked by 11 pirates. One died in the assault, and a week later Russian military officials reported that the remainder were freed due to weaknesses in international law but died before reaching the Somali coast. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...

had announced the day the ship was retaken that "We'll have to do what our forefathers did when they met the pirates" until a suitable way of prosecuting them was available.

Profile

Many pirates are 20–35 years old and come from the region of Puntland, in northeastern Somalia. The East African Seafarers' Association

Seafarers' Assistance Programme

The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme is an independent organization for the welfare of seafarers and a piracy-monitoring group...

estimates that there are at least five pirate gangs and a total of 1,000 armed men. According to a BBC report, the pirates can be divided into three main categories:

Local Somali fishermen, considered the brains of the pirates' operations due to their skill and knowledge of the sea. Many think that foreign boats have no right to cruise next to the shore and destroy their boats.
Ex-militiamen, who previously fought for the local clan warlords, or ex-military from the former Barre
Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre was the military dictator and President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad ....

government used as the muscle.
Technical experts, who operate equipment such as GPS devices
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...

.

Many of the Puntland group of pirates received sophisticated training on weapons,engines and navigation from three separate mainly Western "security" companies,such as Som Can, that were contracted by the Puntland government . They trained locals to protect inshore fishermen initially, and were also authorised by the government to sell fishing licences to foreign fishermen on a share basis. All of the companies either collapsed or were forced out leaving a large pool of highly trained seamen who form the nucleus of the pirates. According to Globalsecurity.org

GlobalSecurity.org

GlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, is a public policy organization focusing on the fields of defense, space exploration, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction and homeland security...

, there are four main groups operating off the Somali coast. The National Volunteer Coast Guard, commanded by Garaad Mohamed, is said to specialize in intercepting small boats and fishing vessels around Kismayo on the southern coast. The Marka group, under the command of Yusuf Mohammed Siad Inda'ade, is made up of several scattered and less organized groups operating around the town of Marka

Marka

Marka may refer to:* Marka people, a people of Mali in Western Africa** Marka language, the language of the Marka people* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark , the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

. The third significant pirate group is composed of traditional Somali fishermen operating around Puntland and referred to as the Puntland Group. The last set are the Somali Marines, reputed to be the most powerful and sophisticated of the pirate groups with a military structure, a fleet admiral, admiral, vice-admiral and a head of financial operations.

The conduct of a typical pirate attack has been analyzed and shows that while attacks can be expected at any time, most occur during the day, often in the early hours. They may involve two or more skiff

Skiff

The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...

s that can reach speeds of up to 25 knots. With the help of motherships that include captured fishing and merchant vessels the operating range of the skiffs has been increased far into the Indian Ocean. An attacked vessel is approached from quarter or stern; RPGs and small arms are used to intimidate the operator to slow down and allow boarding. Light ladders are brought along to climb aboard. Pirates then will try and get control of the bridge to take operational control of the vessel.

The closest Somali

Somali language

The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....

term for 'pirate' is burcad badeed, which means "ocean robber". But the pirates themselves prefer to be called badaadinta badah, or "saviours of the sea", or in the English "coastguard", as they claimed that their action was for "protection of his sea, the native [Somali] waters".

Effects and perceptions

There have been both positive and negative effects of the pirates' economic success. Local residents have complained that the presence of so many armed men makes them feel insecure, and that their free spending ways cause wild fluctuations in the local exchange rate

Exchange rate

In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...

. Others fault them for excessive consumption of alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

s and khat

Khat

Khat, qat, gat or Waquish Spoken from true Yemeni, is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....

.

On the other hand, many other residents appreciate the rejuvenating effect that the pirates' on-shore spending and re-stocking has had on their impoverished towns, a presence which has often provided jobs and opportunity when there were none. Entire hamlets have in the process been transformed into veritable boomtown

Boomtown

A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...

s, with local shop owners and other residents using their gains to purchase items such as generator

Electrical generator

In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...

s -- "allowing full days of electricity, once an unimaginable luxury."

Local fishermen in the Malindi

Malindi

Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...

area of Kenya to the south have reported their largest catches in forty years, catching hundreds of kilos of fish and earning fifty times the average daily wage as a result. They attribute the recent abundance of marine stock to the pirates scaring away the foreign fishing trawlers, which it is claimed have for decades deprived local dhows of a livelihood. Marine biologists agree, saying that the indicators are that the local fishery

Fishery

Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...

is recovering because of the lack of commercial scale fishing.

The Somali piracy appears to have a positive impact on the problem of overfishing in Somali waters by foreign vessels, as a comparison has been made with the situation in Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

further to the south, which suffers from the same problem, and also lacks the means to enforce the protection and regulation of its territorial waters. There, the catches have dropped to dramatic low levels, whereas in Somalia they have risen back to more acceptable levels since the beginning of the piracy.

Weaponry and funding

The pirates get most of their weapons from Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

, but a significant amount come from Mogadishu

Mogadishu

Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....

, Somalia's capital. Weapons dealers in the capital receive a deposit from a hawala
Hawala
Hawala is an informal value transfer system based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers, which are primarily located in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and South Asia...

dealer on behalf of the pirates and the weapons are then driven to Puntland where the pirates pay the balance. Various photographs of pirates in situ indicate that their weapons are predominantly AKM

AKM

The AKM is a 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is an upgraded version of the AK-47 rifle and was developed in the 1950s....

s, RPG-7

RPG-7

The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...

s, AK47s, and semi-automatic pistols such as the TT-30. Additionally, given the particular origin of their weaponry, they are likely to have hand grenade

Hand grenade

A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...

s such as the RGD-5

RGD-5

The RGD-5 English "Hand Grenade of the Degtyareva design", is a post World War II Soviet anti-personnel fragmentation grenade, designed in the early 1950s...

or F1. Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

reportedly funded pirates with cash to purchase weapons. Osama bin-Laden supported these pirates in a video footage aired on al-Jazeera.

The funding of piracy operations is now structured in a stock exchange

Stock exchange

A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...

, with investors buying and selling shares in upcoming attacks in a bourse in Harardhere

Harardhere

Harardhere is a town in the Mudug province of central Somalia, also spelled Harardheere and Xarardhere or Xarard-heere. It has become notorious in recent times as a base for piracy in Somalia. A pirate cooperative exchange opened here in 2009 to finance pirate activities.In May of 2010, members of...

. Pirates say ransom money is paid in large denomination US dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

bills. It is delivered to them in burlap

Burlap

Hessian , or burlap in the US, is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres, or may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets, and similar products...

sacks which are either dropped from helicopters or cased in waterproof suitcases loaded onto tiny skiff

Skiff

s. Ransom money has also been delivered to pirates via parachute

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

, as happened in January 2009 when an orange container with $3 million cash inside was dropped onto the deck of the supertanker to secure the release of ship and crew. To authenticate the banknote

Banknote

A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...

s, pirates use currency-counting machine

Currency-counting machine

A currency-counting machine is a machine that counts money—either stacks of banknotes or loose collections of coins. Counters may be purely mechanical or use electronic components...

s, the same technology used at foreign exchange bureaus worldwide. According to one pirate, these machines are, in turn, purchased from business connections in Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, Djibouti

Djibouti

Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

, and other areas. Hostages seized by the pirates usually have to wait 45 days or more for the ships' owners to pay the ransom and secure their release.

Somali pirates allegedly get help from the Somali diaspora

Somali diaspora

The Somali diaspora refers to expatriate Somalis who reside in areas of the world that have traditionally not been inhabited by their ethnic group...

. Somali expatriates, including reputedly some among the 200,000 Somalis living in Canada, offer funds, equipment and information.

General

The purpose of piracy is to get ransom money for release of the crew, ship, and cargo. Pirates' income from ransom has been estimated to be about 39 million euro (about $58 million) in 2009 and $238 million in 2010. However, indirect costs of piracy are much higher and estimated to be between $7 to 12 billion as they also include insurance, naval support, legal proceedings, re-routing of slower ships, and individual protective steps taken by ship-owners. Further, piracy in Somalia leads to a decrease of revenue for Egypt as fewer ships use the Suez canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

(estimated loss of about $642 million), impedes trade with a number of countries such as Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

and Yemen

Yemen

, and is detrimental to tourism and fishing in the Seychelles

Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....

.

A 2011 report published by Geopolicity Inc, investigated the causes and consequences of international piracy, with a particular focus on piracy emanating from Somalia. The report asserts that piracy is an emerging market in its own right, valued at between US$4.9-8.3 billion in 2010 alone, and it establishes, for the first time, an economic model for assessing the costs and benefits of international piracy. This model provides a comprehensive, independent framework of trend analysis, whilst also highlighting where the greatest rates of return on international counter pirate investment and policy are to be found across what Geopolicity term the ‘Pirate Value Chain.’ The report states that the number of pirates could double by 2016, increasing by 400 each year. This is being fuelled by attractive financial incentives with Somali pirates earning up to US$79,000/year; equating to almost 150 times their country’s national average wage.

Human cost

Somali piracy operations exact significant human cost. Thus in 2010, 4,185 seafarers had been attacked and 1,090 were held hostage, a third of these were abused. According to Reuters, 62 seafarers died out of over 3,500 captives during a four year period having been murdered, or from suicide or malnutrition. Many seafarers are traumatized after release.

On the Somali side, youth is directed into a perilous life of criminal activity.

Profiteers

According to the German Institute for Economic Research

German Institute for Economic Research

(DIW), a veritable industry of profiteers has also risen around the piracy. Insurance companies

Insurance

, in particular, have profited from the pirate attacks, as insurance premiums have increased significantly. DIW claims that, in order to keep premiums high, insurance firms have not demanded that ship owners take security precautions that would make hijackings more difficult. For their part, shipping companies often do not comply with naval guidelines on how best to prevent pirate attacks in order to cut down on costs. Ship crews have also been reluctant to repel the pirates on account of their low wages and inequitable work contracts. In addition, security contractors and the German arms industry, have profited from the phenomenon.

Sovereignty and environmental protection

The former UN envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is a Mauritanian diplomat and former senior United Nations official.-Background:Ould-Abdallah graduated from secondary school in Dakar, Senegal. He studied economics at the University of Grenoble and the University of Paris and political science at the Sorbonne...

, has stated that "because there is no (effective) government, there is ... much irregular fishing from European and Asian countries," and that the UN has what he described as "reliable information" that European and Asian companies are dumping toxic

Toxic waste

and nuclear waste

Radioactive waste

Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...

off the Somali coastline. However, he stresses that "no government has endorsed this act, and that private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible." In addition, Ould-Abdallah told the press that he approached several international NGOs, such as Global Witness, to trace the illicit fishing and waste-dumping. He added that he believes the toxic waste dumping is "a disaster off the Somali coast, a disaster (for) the Somali environment, the Somali population", and that what he terms "this illegal fishing, illegal dumping of waste" helps fuel the civil war in Somalia since the illegal foreign fishermen pay off corrupt local officials or warlords for protection or to secure counterfeit licenses. Ould-Abdallah noted that piracy will not prevent waste dumping:
Somali pirates which captured MV Faina

MV Faina

The MV Faina is a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship operated by a Ukrainian company that sails under a Belize flag of convenience.The Faina is owned by Waterlux AG, based in Panama City, and managed by Tomex Team in Odessa, Ukraine....

, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and declared that the $8m ransom for the return of the ship will go towards cleaning up the waste. The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates said. "The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas."

These issues have generally not been reported in international media when reporting on piracy. According to Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...

, "It is a response to greedy Western nations, who invade and exploit Somalia’s water resources illegally. It is not a piracy, it is self defence."

Pirate leader Sugule Ali said their motive was "to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters ... We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas." Also, the independent Somali news-site WardherNews found that 70 percent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country's territorial waters".

Waste dumping

Following the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...

, there have emerged allegations that after the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in late 1991, Somalia's long, remote shoreline was used as a dump site for the disposal of toxic waste. The huge waves which battered northern Somalia after the tsunami are believed to have stirred up tonnes of nuclear and toxic waste that was illegally dumped in Somali waters by several European firms — front companies created by the Italian mafia. The European Green Party

European Green Party

The European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...

followed up these revelations by presenting before the press and the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

copies of contracts signed by two European companies—the Italian Swiss firm, Achair Partners, and an Italian waste broker, Progresso—and representatives of the warlords then in power, to accept 10 million tonnes of toxic waste in exchange for $80 million (then about £60 million). According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme

United Nations Environment Programme

The United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...

(UNEP) assessment mission, there are far higher than normal cases of respiratory infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding, abdominal hemorrhages and unusual skin infections among many inhabitants of the areas around the northeastern towns of Hobbio

Hobyo

and Benadir

Benadir

Benadir is a coastal region of Somalia. It covers most of the Indian Ocean coast of the country, from the Gulf of Aden to the Juba River, containing the capital of Mogadishu. The name comes from Persian bandar, which means port , a fact that reflects the region's importance to Persian and Arab...

on the Indian Ocean coast—diseases consistent with radiation sickness

Radiation Sickness

Radiation Sickness is a VHS by the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault. The video is a recording of a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London in 1988. It was released in 1991...

. UNEP continues that the current situation along the Somali coastline poses a very serious environmental hazard not only in Somalia but also in the eastern Africa sub-region.
Under Article 9(1)(d) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, it is illegal for "any transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes: that results in deliberate disposal (e.g. dumping) of hazardous wastes or other wastes in contravention of this Convention and of general principles of international law".

According to Nick Nuttall of the United Nations Environmental Programme, "Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there", and "European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne."

Illegal fishing

At the same time, foreign travelers began illegally fishing Somalia's seas, with an estimated $300 million of tuna

Tuna

Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...

, shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

, and lobster

Lobster

Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...

being taken each year, depleting stocks previously available to local fishermen. Through interception with speedboats, Somali fishermen tried to either dissuade the dumpers and trawlers or levy a "tax" on them as compensation, as Segule Ali's previously mentioned quote notes. Peter Lehr, a Somalia piracy expert at the University of St. Andrews says "It's almost like a resource swap, Somalis collect up to $100 million a year from pirate ransoms off their coasts and the Europeans and Asians poach around $300 million a year in fish from Somali waters." The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) issued a report in 2005 stating that, between 2003 and 2004, Somalia lost about $100 million in revenue due to illegal tuna

Tuna

and shrimp

Shrimp

fishing in the country's exclusive economic zone

Exclusive Economic Zone

Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...

by foreign trawlers.

According to Roger Middleton of Chatham House

Chatham House

Chatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading...

, "The problem of overfishing

Overfishing

Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....

and illegal fishing in Somali waters is a very serious one, and does affect the livelihoods of people inside Somalia [...] the dumping of toxic waste on Somalia's shores is a very serious issue, which will continue to affect people in Somalia long after the war has ended, and piracy is resolved." To lure fish to their traps, foreign trawlers reportedly also use fishing equipment under prohibition such as nets with very small mesh sizes and sophisticated underwater lighting systems.

Under Article 56(1)(b)(iii) of the Law of the Sea Convention:

"In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State has jurisdiction as provided for in the relevant provisions of this Convention with regard to the protection and preservation of the marine environment".

Article 57 of the Convention in turn outlines the limit of that jurisdiction:

"The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured".

Self-defense

The third volume of the handbook: Best Management Practices to Deter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and in the Arabian Sea Area (known as BMP3) is the current authoritative guide for merchant ships on self-defense against pirates. The guide is issued and updated by a consortium of interested international shipping and trading organizations including the EU, NATO and the International Maritime Bureau. It is distributed primarily by the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) – the planning and coordination authority for EU naval forces (EUNAVFOR). BMP3 encourages vessels to register their voyages through the region with MSCHOA as this registration is a key component of the operation of the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) (the navy patrolled route through the Gulf of Aden).
BMP3 also contains a chapter entitled "Self-Protective Measures" which lays out a list of steps a merchant vessel can take on its own to make itself less of a target to pirates and make it better able to repel an attack if one occurs. This list includes doing thing like ringing the deck of the ship with razor wire

Razor wire

Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products...

, rigging fire-hoses to spray sea-water over the side of the ship (to hinder boardings), having a distinctive pirate alarm, hardening the bridge against gunfire and creating a "citadel" where the crew can retreat in the event pirates get on board.
Other unofficial self-defense measures that can be found on merchant vessels include the setting up of mannequins posing as armed guards or firing flares at the pirates.

Though it varies by country, generally peacetime law in the 20th and 21st centuries has not allowed merchant vessels to carry weapons. As a response to the rise in modern piracy, however, the U.S. Government changed its rules so that it is now possible for US flagged vessels

Flag State

The flag state of a commercial vessel is the state under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed.The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety...

to embark a team of armed private security guards. Other countries and organisations have similarly followed suit. This has given birth to a new breed of private security companies who provide training and protection for crew members and cargo and have proved effective in countering pirate attacks. The USCG leaves it to ship owners' discretion to determine if those guards will be armed.

With safety trials complete in the late 2000s, dazer laser

Dazer Laser

The Dazer Laser - Light Fighting Technologies is a non-lethal ocular distraction and interruption device, or dazzler, which has been designed and engineered by Laser Energetics, Inc....

s have been developed for defensive purposes on super-yachts. They can be effective up to 2.5 miles with the effects going from mild disorientation to flash blindness

Flash blindness

Flash blindness is visual impairment during and following exposure to a light flash of extremely high intensity. It may last for a few seconds to a few minutes....

at closer range.

Military presence

The military response to pirate attacks has brought about a rare show of unity by countries that are either openly hostile to each other, or at least wary of cooperation, military or otherwise. Currently there are three international naval task forces in the region, with numerous national vessels and task forces entering and leaving the region, engaging in counter-piracy operations for various lengths of time. The three international task forces which comprise the bulk of counter-piracy operations are Combined Task Force 150

Combined Task Force 150

(whose overarching mission is Operation Enduring Freedom), Combined Task Force 151 (which was set up in 2009 specifically to run counter-piracy operations) and the EU naval task force operating under Operation Atalanta

Operation Atalanta

Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...

. All counter-piracy operations are coordinated through a monthly planning conference called Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE). Originally having representatives only from NATO, the EU, and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) HQ in Bahrain, it now regularly attracts representatives from over 20 countries.

As part of the international effort, Europe plays a significant role in combating piracy of the Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...

. The European Union under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) launched EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation Atalanta

Operation Atalanta

(in support of Resolutions 1814 (2008), 1816 (2008), 1838 (2008) and 1846 (2008) of the United Nations Security Council

United Nations Security Council

(UNSC)). This operation is working to protect humanitarian aid and reduce the disruption to the shipping routes and the de-stabilising of the maritime environment in the region. To date, 26 countries have brought some kind of contribution to the operation. 13 EU Member States have provided an operational contribution to EU NAVFOR, either with ships, with maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, or with Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) team. This includes France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, United Kingdom (also hosting the EU NAVFOR Operational headquarters), Portugal, Luxembourg, Malta and Estonia. 9 other EU Member States have participated in the effort providing military staff to work at the EU NAVFOR Operational Headquarters (Northwood Headquarters

Northwood Headquarters

Northwood Headquarters is a military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces in Eastbury, Hertfordshire, England, adjacent to the London suburb of Northwood...

– UK) or onboard units. These are Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ireland and Finland. Finally, 4 non EU Member States, Norway (who has also provided an operational contribution with a warship regularly deploying), Croatia, Ukraine and Montenegro have so far also brought their contribution to EU NAVFOR.
At any one time, the European force size fluctuates according to the monsoon seasons, which determine the level of piracy. It typically consists of 5 to 10 Surface Combatants (Naval ships), 1 to 2 Auxiliary ships and 2 to 4 Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft. Including land-based personnel, Operation Atalanta consists of a total of around 2,000 military personnel. EU NAVFOR operates in a zone comprising the south of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the western part of the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

including the Seychelles, which represents an area of 2,000,000 square nautical miles.

Additionally, there are, and have been, several naval deployments by non-multinational task forces in the past. Some notable ones include:

On 29 May 2009, Australia pledged its support, re-directing Australian Warship, from duties in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

to assist in the fighting of Piracy.

On 26 December 2008, China dispatched two warships Haikou (171), Wuhan (169) and the supply ship Weishanhu (887) to the Gulf of Aden

Gulf of Aden

The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide....

. A team of 16 Chinese Special Forces members from its Marine Corps armed with attack helicopters were on board. Subsequent to their initial deployment, China has maintained a three-ship flotilla

Flotilla

A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...

of two warships and one supply ship in the Gulf of Aden by assigning ships from the South Sea Fleet

South Sea Fleet

The People's Republic of China's South Sea Fleet was first established in late 1949. The flagship of the SSF is the AOR/AK Nanchang ....

and/or East Sea Fleet

East Sea Fleet

The East Sea Fleet was the first naval force formed by the People's Republic of China, on 23 April 1949, and was initially based at Shanghai. It has since been assigned to be part of the People's Liberation Army Navy and its headquarters have been moved to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, but the fleet...

to the area on a three month basis.
In response to the increased activity of the INS Tabar, India sought to augment its naval force in the Gulf of Aden by deploying the larger INS Mysore

INS Mysore (D60)

INS Mysore is a Delhi-class guided-missile destroyer currently in active service with the Indian Navy.-History:INS Mysore was built at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai. Her keel was laid down in February 1991 and she was launched on 4 June 1993...

to patrol the area. Somalia also added India to its list of states, including the U.S. and France, who are permitted to enter its territorial waters, extending up to 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) from the coastline, in an effort to check piracy. An Indian naval official confirmed receipt of a letter acceding to India's prerogative to check such piracy. "We had put up a request before the Somali government to play a greater role in suppressing piracy in the Gulf of Aden in view of the United Nations resolution. The TFG government gave its nod

Nod (gesture)

A nod of the head is a gesture in which the head is tilted in alternating up and down arcs along the sagittal plane. In many cultures, it is most commonly, but not universally, used to indicate agreement, acceptance, or acknowledgment....

recently." India also expressed consideration to deploy up to four more warships in the region.
On 14 March 2011, the Indian navy reportedly had seized 61 pirates and rescued 13 crew from the vessel, which had been used as a mother ship from where pirates launched attacks around the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi ship hijacked by pirates last year was freed after a ransom was paid.

Norway announced on 27 February 2009, that it would send the frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen

HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310)

HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen is a frigate of the Royal Norwegian Navy. Launched on April 5, 2006, she is the lead ship of the Fridtjof Nansen class of warships.-Counter Piracy:...

to the coast of Somalia to fight piracy. Royal Norwegian Navy

Royal Norwegian Navy

The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...

Fridtjof Nansen

Fridtjof Nansen class frigate

The Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates are the main surface combatant units of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The ships are named after famous Norwegian explorers, with the lead ship of the class bearing the name of Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian scientist, explorer and humanitarian.Five ships were ordered...

joined EU NAVFOR's international naval force in August.

Russia also chose to send more warships to combat piracy near Somalia following the announcement from the International Maritime Bureau

International Maritime Bureau

The International Maritime Bureau is a specialized department of the International Chamber of Commerce.The IMB's responsibilities lie in fighting crimes related to maritime trade and transportation, particularly piracy and commercial fraud, and in protecting the crews of ocean-going vessels.It...

terming the menace as having gone "out of control."

Due to their proximity to Somalia, the coast guard of Seychelles has become increasingly involved in counter-piracy in the region. On 30 March 2010, a Seychelles Coast Guard

Seychelles Coast Guard

The Seychelles Coast Guard is a branch of the Military of Seychelles created in 1992. It is a maritime, military, multi-mission service. They recently acquired responsibility for search and rescue for vessel incidents as well as environmental protection from the Port and Marine Services...

Trinkat class patrol vessel

The Indian Navy commissioned the design and construction of the Trinkat class patrol vessels for fisheries protection, anti-poaching, counter-insurgency and search-and-rescue operations in coastal areas and in the exclusive economic zone....

rescued 27 hostages and sank two pirate vessels

Action of 30 March 2010

The Action of 30 March 2010 was a naval battle involving a Seychelles Coast Guard patrol boat and two groups of Somali pirate vessels. The encounter resulted in the freeing of twenty-seven hostages held by the pirates.-Background:...

.

Other non-NATO and non-EU countries have, at one time or another, contributed to counter-piracy operations. Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Iran have all sent ships to the region, sometimes joining with the existing CTFs, sometimes operating independently.

A maritime conference was also held in Mombasa

Mombasa

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

to discuss the rising concern of regional piracy with a view to give regional and world governments recommendations to deal with the menace. The International Transport Workers Federation (ITWF) organised the regional African maritime unions’ conference, the first of its kind in Africa. Godfrey Matata Onyango, executive secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit Coordination Authority

Northern Corridor Transit Coordination Authority

The Northern Corridor Transit Coordination Authority is an intergovenmental body in Central Africa tasked with the job of coordinating transport infrastructure improvements.One of its proposals is to build railways to landlocked Burundi and Rwanda....

said that "We cannot ignore to discuss the piracy menace because it poses a huge challenge to the maritime industry and if not controlled, it threats to chop off the regional internal trade. The cost of shipping will definitely rise as a result of the increased war insurance premium due to the high risk off the Gulf of Aden." In 2008 Pakistan offered the services of the Pakistan Navy

Pakistan Navy

The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...

to the United Nations in order to help combat the piracy in Somalia "provided a clear mandate was given."

Current fleet of vessels in operation

Vessels, aircraft and personnel whose primary mission is to conduct anti-piracy activities come from different countries and are assigned to the following missions: Operation Ocean Shield (NATO and partner states), Atalanta

Operation Atalanta

(EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

and partner states), Combined Task Force 151

Combined Task Force 151

Combined Task Force 151 or CTF-151 or Combined Task Force One Five One is an international naval task force, set up in response to piracy attacks in shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia...

, independent missions of Japan, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, PR China, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, Malaysia. Additionally resources dedicated for the War on Terror

War on Terror

The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

missions of Combined Task Force 150

Combined Task Force 150

and Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa also operate against the pirates.

Country	Mission	Sailors	Ships	Cost [Mil of USD per annum]	Start	End
Royal Australian Navy Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...	CTF 150 Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...	~250	1 frigate (as part of Operation Slipper Operation Slipper Operation Slipper is the Australian Defence Force contribution to the war in Afghanistan. The operation commenced in late 2001 and is ongoing... duties)	?	?	?
Belgian Navy Belgian Navy The Marine Component of the Belgian Army, formerly the Belgian Naval Force, is the naval service of Belgium.-Early history:The Belgian Navy was created as the Marine Royale in 1831. This force has operated in various forms throughout Belgian history.When after the Belgian Revolution, the country...	Atalanta Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...	170	1 Frigate Louise-Marie F931 Louise-Marie The F931 Louise-Marie is a Karel Doorman class frigate of the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces that was commissioned in 2008...	?	Sep 1st 2009 Oct 20th 2010	Dec 16th 2009 Jan 20th 2011
Bulgarian Navy Bulgarian Navy The Bulgarian Navy is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	130	Wielingen class frigate Wielingen class frigate The Wielingen class is a class of four multi-functional frigates built for the Belgian Navy. The ships are named after sandbanks in the North Sea, not far from the Belgian coast, or sea routes. The lead ship is named after the Wielingen sandbank.... 41 Drazki	?	?	?
Royal Canadian Navy Royal Canadian Navy The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	240		?	November 2009	May 4, 2010
Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy		~800 including PLA marines	1st Flotilla: Haikou (Type 052C/DDG-171), Wuhan (Type 052B/DDG-169), Weishanhu (Qiandaohu Class/887) 2nd Flotilla: Shenzhen (Type 051B/DDG-167), Huangshan (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-570), Weishanhu (Qiandaohu Class/887) 3rd Flotilla: Zhoushan (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-529), Xuzhou (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-530), Qiandaohu (Qiandaohu Class/886) 4th Flotilla: Ma'anshan (Type 054/FFG-525), Wenzhou (Type 054/FFG-526), Qiandaohu (Qiandaohu Class/886), Chaohu (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-568) 5th Flotilla: Guangzhou (Type 052B/DDG-168), Chaohu (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-568)), Weishanhu (Qiandaohu Class/887) 6th Flotilla: Kunlun Shan (Type 071 Type 071 amphibious transport dock The Type 071 are amphibious warfare ships of the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy. They are built by the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, and the first entered service in late-2007.-Design:... /LPD-998), Lanzhou (Type 052C/DDG-170), Weishanhu (Qiandaohu Class/887) 7th Flotilla: Zhoushan (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-529), Xuzhou (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-530), Qiandaohu (Qiandaohu Class/886) 8th Flotilla: Ma'anshan (Type 054/FFG-525), Wenzhou (Type 054/FFG-526), Qiandaohu (Qiandaohu Class/886) 9th Flotilla: Wuhan (Type 052B/DDG-169), Yulin (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-569), Qinghaihu (Nancang Class Fusu class replenishment ship The Nancang-class auxiliary oiler replenishment ship is used by the People's Liberation Army Navy to resupply ships at sea with food, munitions, fuel and spare parts. The only ship in this class in Chinese service, is Qinghaihu , ex Nancang... /885) 10th Flotilla: Haikou (Type 052C/DDG-171), Yuncheng (Type 054A Type 054A frigate The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007... /FFG-571), Qinghaihu (Nancang Class Fusu class replenishment ship The Nancang-class auxiliary oiler replenishment ship is used by the People's Liberation Army Navy to resupply ships at sea with food, munitions, fuel and spare parts. The only ship in this class in Chinese service, is Qinghaihu , ex Nancang... /885)	?	Jan 6, 2009 Apr 15, 2009 Aug 1, 2009 Nov 27, 2009 (Chaohu Dec 21, 2009) March 2010 July 2010 Nov 2010 March 2011 July 2011 November 2011	?
Royal Danish Navy Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese territorial waters...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	300	2 (Command and Support Ship HDMS Absalon (L16); Patrol Ship HDMS Thetis (F357)	?	February 2007	April 2009
Finnish Navy Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...	Atalanta Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...	120	1 (FNS Pohjanmaa)	(11.6 mil EUR)	5 January 2011 1 February 2011	May 2011
French Navy French Navy The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States... or Atalanta Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...	?	Germinal, Floréal, La Fayette La Fayette (F710) The La Fayette is a second-line multi-mission stealth frigate of the French Marine Nationale. She is the second French vessel named after the 18th century general Marquis de Lafayette. She is the lead ship of the class. The same class is also used by the Royal Saudi Navy.The ship has appeared in... , avisos, Améthyste	?	?	?
German Navy German Navy The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...	Atalanta Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...	230	1 (Frigate Emden Bremen class frigate The eight F122 Bremen class frigates of the German Navy were commissioned between 1982 and 1990. The design is similar to the Dutch Kortenaer class but uses a different hull and propulsion system. The ships were built for anti-submarine warfare as a primary task even though they are not fitted with... (F210))	60 (45 Mio. EUR)	December 8, 2008	December 17, 2010
Greek Navy	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	176-196	4	?	?	?
Indian Navy Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...		540	3 ( Destroyer INS Mysore (D60) INS Mysore (D60) INS Mysore is a Delhi-class guided-missile destroyer currently in active service with the Indian Navy.-History:INS Mysore was built at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai. Her keel was laid down in February 1991 and she was launched on 4 June 1993... ; Frigate INS Tabar(F44), INS Godavari INS Godavari The following ships of the Indian Navy have been named Godavari: was a Black Swan class sloop commissioned into the Royal Indian Navy in 1943, where she served in World War II, and transferred to Pakistan in 1948 was a Type II Hunt class destroyer, formerly HMS Bedale of the Royal Navy where she... (F20)	1	?	?
Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Islamic Republic of Iran Navy The Iranian Navy has traditionally been the smallest branch of Iran's armed forces and is designed mainly for securing its own ports and coast.- Overview :...		?	?	1	?	?
Italian Navy Italian Navy Italian Navy may refer to:* Pre-unitarian navies of the Italian states* Regia Marina, the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy * Italian Navy , the navy of the Italian Republic...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	240	1 (D560 Durand de la Penne Durand de la Penne class destroyer The Durand de la Penne class destroyers are two guided missile destroyers operated by the Marina Militare, the Italian navy. The design is an updated version of the Audace class destroyers but these ships are larger, have CODOG machinery and modern sensors... )	?	?	?
		400	1st Escort Division:DD-113 Sazanami Takanami class destroyer The Takanami class destroyer is the newest class of Japanese guided-missile and ASW destroyer, serving with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force... , DD-106 Samidare Murasame class destroyer The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW... 2nd Escort Division:DD-102 Harusame Murasame class destroyer The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW... , DD-154 Amagiri Asagiri class destroyer The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW... , 3rd Escort Division:DD-110 Takanami Takanami class destroyer The Takanami class destroyer is the newest class of Japanese guided-missile and ASW destroyer, serving with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force... , DD-155 Hamagiri Asagiri class destroyer The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW... 4th Escort Division:DD-111 Onami Takanami class destroyer The Takanami class destroyer is the newest class of Japanese guided-missile and ASW destroyer, serving with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force... , DD-157 Sawagiri Asagiri class destroyer The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW... 5th Escort Division:DD-101 Murasame Murasame class destroyer The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW... , DD-153 Yugiri Asagiri class destroyer The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW... 6th Escort Division:DD-112 Makinami Takanami class destroyer The Takanami class destroyer is the newest class of Japanese guided-missile and ASW destroyer, serving with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force... , DD-156 Setogiri Asagiri class destroyer The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW... 7th Escort Division:DD-104 Kirisame Murasame class destroyer The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW... , DD-103 Yudachi Murasame class destroyer The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW... 8th Escort Division:DD-105 Inazuma Murasame class destroyer The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW... , DD-113 Sazanami 9th Escort Division:DD-106 Samidare, DD-158 Umigiri Asagiri class destroyer The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW... 10th Escort Division:DD-110 Takanami, DD-111 Onami	?	March 14, 2009 July 6, 2009 October 13, 2009 January 29, 2010 May 10, 2010 August 23, 2010 December 1, 2010 March 15, 2011 June 20, 2011 October 11, 2011	August 16, 2009 November 29, 2009 March 18, 2010 July 2, 2010 October 15, 2010 January 18, 2011 May 9, 2011 August 11, 2011
Republic of Korea Navy Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy or the ROK Navy is the branch of the South Korean armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations and amphibious landing operations. The ROK Navy includes the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, which is a quasi-autonomous organization...	CTF 150 Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...	300	1 Destroyer (Currently Choi Young DDH-981 ROKS Choi Young (DDH-981) ROKS Choi Young is a Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer in the South Korean navy. It is named after the Korean general Choe Yeong.-Design:... )	1	April 16, 2009	?
Royal Malaysian Navy Royal Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy is the naval arm of Malaysian Armed Forces. All commissioned ships of the RMN have the prefix KD , which means Royal Ship.-Straits Settlement Naval Volunteer Reserve:...		unknown	Support Ship Bunga Mas 5	3	?	?
Royal Netherlands Navy Royal Netherlands Navy The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...	Atalanta Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...	174-202	HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802) HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën is the first ship of the De Zeven Provinciën class air defence and command frigates in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy...	1	March 26, 2009	August 2010
Pakistan Navy Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...	CTF 150 Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...	177	PNS Badr	?	?	?
Portuguese Navy Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the military defence of Portugal....	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	?	1 (Frigate NRP Corte Real – NATO flotilla flagship)	?	June 2009	January 2010
Royal Saudi Navy	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	?	?	?	?	?
Russian Navy		~350	3 (Destroyer Admiral Panteleyev (BPK 548) Russian destroyer Admiral Panteleyev (BPK 548) The Admiral Panteleyev is an Udaloy-class destroyer of the Russian Navy.Part of the Russian Pacific Ocean Fleet, she was deployed in 2009 as part of operations to combat piracy off the Somalian coast.-External links:*... , Salvage Tugboat, Tanker	?	April 2009	?
Republic of Singapore Navy Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy is the naval component of the Singapore Armed Forces , responsible for the defence of Singapore against sea-borne threats and protection of its sea lines of communications. Operating within the crowded littoral waters of the Singapore Strait, the RSN is regarded as...	CTF 151 Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 or CTF-151 or Combined Task Force One Five One is an international naval task force, set up in response to piracy attacks in shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia...	240	LST RSS Persistence (209) Endurance class landing platform dock ship The Endurance class landing platform dock ships are the largest class of ships in the Republic of Singapore Navy . They were designed and built locally by Singapore Technologies Marine to replace the old County class tank landing ships...	?	24 April 2009	?
Spanish Navy Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	423	2 Frigates (F86 Canarias and F104 Méndez Núñez)	?	?	?
Swedish Navy Swedish Navy The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...	Atalanta Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta is a current military operation undertaken by the European Union and the European Union Naval Force. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis; for example World Food Programme ships food aid to ports in Somalia and...	152	style="text-align:left;"\| 3 (OPV )	?	April 14, 2010	November 15, 2010
Royal Thai Navy Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy is the navy of Thailand and part of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, it was established in the late 19th century. Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse is "The Father of Royal Thai Navy". Similar to the organizational structure of the United States, the Royal Thai Navy includes the...	CTF 150 Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...	371 including 20 marine special warfare task force	2 (OPV HTMS Pattani (OPV 511); Replenishment Ship HTMS Similan (871) and will soon deploy another mission in 2011)	8.757 (270 Mil THB)	September 10, 2010	January 14, 2011
Turkish Navy Turkish Navy The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	503	2 (Frigates TCG Giresun (F 491), TCG Gokova (F 496) USS Samuel Eliot Morison (FFG-13) USS Samuel Eliot Morison , the seventh Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, was named for Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison , one of America's most distinguished naval historians, who wrote more than 40 books on naval history.... )	?	?	?
British Royal Navy Royal Navy The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...	950	HMS Cumberland HMS Cumberland (F85) HMS Cumberland was a Batch 3 Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. She was launched in 1986 and commissioned on 10 June 1989. The frigate was on station during the First Gulf War and was part of the Devonport Flotilla based at Devonport Dockyard. Cumberland was decommissioned on 23 June... HMS Montrose HMS Montrose (F236) The second and current HMS Montrose is the eighth of a sixteen ship class of frigates, known as Type 23 or the 'Duke' class, of the Royal Navy. She was laid down in November 1989 by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde... HMS Northumberland HMS Northumberland (F238) HMS Northumberland is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is named after the Duke of Northumberland. She is based at Devonport.-Construction:... HMS Monmouth HMS Monmouth (F235) HMS Monmouth is the sixth Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the seventh ship to bear the name and was launched by Lady Eaton in 1991, being commissioned two years later....	?	?	?
United States Navy United States Navy The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...	Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States... , CTF 150 Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ... , CTF 151 Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 or CTF-151 or Combined Task Force One Five One is an international naval task force, set up in response to piracy attacks in shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia...	?	US 5th Fleet	?	?

Current states that contribute aircraft or military personnel

Former contributions during previous rotation periods

Brian Murphy (Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

) reported on 8 January 2009 that Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

Terence E. McKnight

Rear Admiral Terence E. McKnight, United States Navy, is a former American naval officer in command a new multi-national naval force tasked to confront piracy activities off the coast of Somalia.-Educational Background:...

, U.S. Navy, is to command a new multi-national naval force to confront piracy off the coast of Somalia. This new anti-piracy force was designated Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), a multinational task force of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). The USS San Antonio was designated as the flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

of Combined Task Force 151, serving as an afloat forward staging base (AFSB) for the following force elements:

14-member U.S. Navy visit, board, search, and seizure
Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure
Visit, board, search, and seizure is the term for maritime boarding actions and tactics, designed to capture enemy vessels, to combat terrorism, piracy and smuggling, and to conduct customs, safety and other inspections, as employed by modern navies, marine and maritime services, military and...

(VBSS) team.
8-member U.S. Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 405
Law Enforcement Detachments
Law Enforcement Detachments or LEDETs are specialized, deployable maritime law enforcement teams of the United States Coast Guard. First established in 1982, their primary mission is to deploy aboard U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct and support law enforcement, interdiction, or security...

.
Scout Sniper
Scout Sniper
Scout Sniper is a secondary MOS designator of U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen and reconnaissance Marines that have successfully graduated from a USMC Scout Sniper School. Scout Snipers provide close reconnaissance and surveillance to the infantry battalion...

Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment
2nd Battalion 6th Marines
2nd Battalion, 6th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Also known as "The Ready Battalion" or "2/6 Spartans", it consists of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors and falls under the command of the 6th Marine Regiment and...

, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26 MEU)
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit
The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. The MEU consists of four major parts: a command element,...

cross-decked
Cross-deck (naval terminology)
For the component of an aircraft carrier arresting gear , see Cross deck pendantCross-deck is United States Navy jargon which may refer to either informal, ad-hoc sharing of resources between naval vessels , or the use of carrier decks to host aircraft of foreign allies, aircraft from other ships...

from the .
3rd Platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine's 'Golf' Infantry Company, a military police detachment, and intelligence personnel.
Fleet Surgical Team 8 with level-two surgical capability to deal with trauma, surgical, critical care and medical evacuation needs.
Approximately 75 Marines with six AH-1W Super Cobra
AH-1 SuperCobra
The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the US Army's AH-1 Cobra. The twin Cobra family includes the AH-1J SeaCobra, the AH-1T Improved SeaCobra, and the AH-1W SuperCobra...

and two UH-1N Huey
UH-1N Twin Huey
The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter that first flew in April, 1969. The UH-1N has a fifteen seat configuration, with one pilot and fourteen passengers. In cargo configuration the UH-1N has an internal capacity of 220 ft³ . An external load of 5,000 lb can be carried...

helicopters from the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264 (HMM-264)
HMM-264
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264 is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "Black Knights", is based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina and normally falls under the command of Marine Aircraft...

of the 26th MEU cross-decked from the USS Iwo Jima.
Three HH-60H helicopters from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 3 (HS-3) cross-decked from the .

Initially, CTF-151 consisted of the San Antonio, , and , with additional warships expected to join this force.

On 28 January 2009, Japan announced its intention of sending a naval task force to join international efforts to stop piracy off the coast of Somalia. The deployment would be highly unusual, as Japan's non-aggressive constitution means Japanese military forces can only be used for defensive purposes. The issue has been controversial in Japan, although the ruling party maintains this should be seen as fighting crime on the high seas, rather than a "military" operation. The process of the Prime Minister of Japan

Prime Minister of Japan

The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...

, Taro Aso

Taro Aso

was the 92nd Prime Minister of Japan serving from September 2008 to September 2009, and was defeated in the August 2009 election.He has served in the House of Representatives since 1979. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007, and was Secretary-General of the LDP briefly in 2007 and...

, giving his approval is expected to take approximately one month. However, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

The , or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II....

and the Japanese government face legal problems on how to handle attacks by pirates against ships that either have Japanese personnel, cargo or are under foreign control instead of being under Japanese control as current Article 9 regulations would hamper their actions when deployed to Somalia. It was reported on 4 February 2009, that the JMSDF was sending a fact-finding mission led by Gen Nakatani

Gen Nakatani

Gen Nakatani is a Japanese politician who served as head of the Japan Defense Agency in the first cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi....

to the region prior to the deployment of the Murasame-class destroyer JDS DD-106 Samidare

Murasame class destroyer

The Murasame class destroyer is a third-generation general purpose destroyer in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force .The Murasame was a successor to the , and like its predecessor, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASuW...

and the Takanami-class destroyer JDS DD-113 Sazanami

Takanami class destroyer

The Takanami class destroyer is the newest class of Japanese guided-missile and ASW destroyer, serving with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force...

to the coast of Somalia with a 13-man team composed of Japanese Ministry of Defense personnel, with members coming from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the JMSDF to visit Yemen, Djibouti, Oman, and Bahrain from February 8 to 20. Both JMSDF vessels are units of the 8th Escort Division of the 4th Escort Flotilla based in Kure

Kure, Hiroshima

is a city in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 240,820 and a population density of 681 persons per km². The total area is 353.74 km².- History :...

, Hiroshima Prefecture

Hiroshima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima.- History :The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded...

. The JMSDF's special forces unit, the Special Boarding Unit

Special Boarding Unit

The is a special forces unit established by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces on March 27, 2001 in response to a previous spy ship incursion that occurred on the Noto Peninsula in 1999. The unit was created to perform similar roles to those undertaken by American Navy SEALs and the British...

is also scheduled to potentially deploy to Somalia. The SBU has been deployed alongside the two destroyers to Somalia on 14 March 2009. According to JMSDF officials, the deployment would "regain the trust of the shipping industry, which was lost during the war." The JMSDF task force would be deployed in Somalia for 4 months. In their first mission, the Takanami-class destroyer JDS DD-113 Sazanami

Takanami class destroyer

The Takanami class destroyer is the newest class of Japanese guided-missile and ASW destroyer, serving with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force...

was able to ward off pirates attempting to hijack a Singaporean cargo ship. In addition, JMSDF P-3Cs

P-3 Orion

The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...

are to be deployed in June from Djibouti to conduct surveillance on the Somali coast. The House of Representatives of Japan

House of Representatives of Japan

The is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,...

has passed an anti-piracy bill, calling for the JMSDF to protect non-Japanese ships and nationals, though there are some concerns that the pro-opposition House of Councillors

House of Councillors

The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...

may reject it. The Diet of Japan

Diet of Japan

The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...

has passed an anti-piracy law that called for JMSDF forces to protect all foreign ships traveling off the coast of Somalia aside from protecting Japanese-owned/manned ships despite a veto from the House of Councillors

House of Councillors

, which the House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Japan

have overturned. In 2009, the destroyers Harusame

Murasame class destroyer

and DD-154 Amagiri

Asagiri class destroyer

The Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW...

left port from Yokusuka to replace the two destroyers that had been dispatched earlier on March 2009. Under current arrangements, Japan Coast Guard officers would be responsible for arresting pirates since SDF forces are not allowed to have powers of arrest.

The South Korean navy

Republic of Korea Navy

is also making plans to participate in anti-piracy operations after sending officers to visit the US Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain and in Djibouti. The South Korean cabinet had approved a government plan to send in South Korean navy ships and soldiers to the coast of Somalia to participate in anti-pirate operations. The ROKN was sending the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer DDH 976 Munmu the Great
Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer
Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin class destroyers are multipurpose destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship of this class, ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sunshin, was launched in May 2002 and commissioned in December 2003...

to the coast of Somalia. The Cheonghae Unit

Cheonghae Unit

The Cheonghae Anti-piracy Unit was established by the Republic of Korea Navy to protect civilian ships near the coast of Somalia under Combined Task Force 151...

task force was also deployed in Somalia under CTF 151.

The Swiss government calls for the deployment of Army Reconnaissance Detachment

Army Reconnaissance Detachment

The Army Reconnaissance Detachment 10 is a special forces unit of the Swiss army responsible for conducting counter-terrorist activities in Switzerland and abroad...

operators to combat Somali piracy with no agreement in Parliament as the proposal was rejected after it was voted. Javier Solana

Javier Solana

Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, KOGF is a Spanish physicist and Socialist politician. After serving in the Spanish government under Felipe González and Secretary General of NATO , he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary...

had said that Swiss soldiers could serve under the EU's umbrella.

The Philippine government ordered the dispatch of a Naval Gunfire Liaison Officers

Naval Gunfire Liaison Officers

The Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer is a U.S. Navy officer—typically a lieutenant junior grade or lieutenant —assigned to a Marine artillery battalion to assist in providing naval gunfire support. Attached to the Operations Office , the NGLO is responsible for a Shore Fire Control Party that...

to work with the US Navy's 5th Fleet as part of its contribution against piracy.

On 12 June 2009, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

also announced plans to join the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and protect Bulgarian shipping, by sending a frigate with a crew of 130 sailors.

The Danish Institute for Military Studies has in a report proposed to establish a regionally based maritime unit: a Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol, to carry out surveillance in the area to secure free navigation and take on tasks such as fishery inspection and environmental monitoring. A Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol would comprise elements from the coastal states – from Egypt in the north to Tanzania in the south. The unit would be established with the support of the states that already have a naval presence in the area.

In February 2010, Danish special forces from the Absalon freed 25 people from the Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...

-flagged vessel Ariella after it was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast. The crew members had locked themselves into a store-room.

Southern African waters are becomingly an increasingly attractive alternative to the more protected Eastern African sea lanes. The recent rise in counter-piracy patrols is pushing more pirates down the coast line into unprotected areas of the Indian Ocean, which will require the joint navies’ current patrols to widen their search area.

Puntland

Between 2009 and 2010, the government of the autonomous Puntland

Puntland

region in northeastern Somalia enacted a number of reforms and pre-emptive measures as a part of its officially declared anti-piracy campaign. The latter include the arrest, trial and conviction of pirate gangs, as well as raids on suspected pirate hideouts and confiscation of weapons and equipment; ensuring the adequate coverage of the regional authority's anti-piracy efforts by both local and international media; sponsoring a social campaign led by Islamic scholars and community activists aimed at discrediting piracy and highlighting its negative effects; and partnering with the NATO alliance to combat pirates at sea. In May 2010, construction also began on a new naval base in the town of Bandar Siyada, located 25 km west of Bosaso, the commercial capital of Puntland. The facility is funded by Puntland's regional government in conjunction with Saracen International, a UK-based security company, and is intended to assist in more effectively combating piracy. The base will include a center for training recruits, and a command post for the naval force. These numerous security measures appear to have borne fruit, as many pirates were apprehended in 2010, including a prominent leader. Puntland's security forces also reportedly managed to force out the pirate gangs from their traditional safe havens such as Eyl and Gar'ad, with the pirates now primarily operating from Hobyo

Hobyo

, El Danaan and Harardhere in the neighboring Galmudug

Galmudug

region.

Galmudug

Government officials from the Galmudug administration in the north-central Hobyo

Hobyo

district have also reportedly attempted to use pirate gangs as a bulwark against Islamist insurgents from southern Somalia's conflict zones; other pirates are alleged to have reached agreements of their own with the Islamist groups, although a senior commander from the Hizbul Islam militia vowed to eradicate piracy by imposing sharia law when his group briefly took control of Harardhere in May 2010 and drove out the local pirates.

By the first half of 2010, these increased policing efforts by Somali government authorities on land along with international naval vessels at sea reportedly contributed to a drop in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden from 86 a year prior to 33, forcing pirates to shift attention to other areas such as the Somali Basin and the wider Indian Ocean.

Somaliland

The government of Somaliland

Somaliland

Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...

, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia, has adopted stringent anti-piracy measures, arresting and imprisoning pirates forced to make port in Berbera

Berbera

Berbera is a city and seat of Berbera District in Somaliland, a self-proclaimed Independent Republic with de facto control over its own territory, which is recognized by the international community and the Somali Government as a part of Somalia...

. According to officials in Hargeisa

Hargeisa

Hargeisa is a city in the northwestern Woqooyi Galbeed region of Somalia. With a population of approximately 2 million residents, it is the second largest city in the country. Hargeisa is the capital of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region...

, Somaliland's capital, the Somaliland Coast Guard acts as an effective deterrent to piracy in waters under its jurisdiction.

Arab League summit

Following the seizure by Somali pirates of an Egyptian ship and a Saudi oil supertanker worth $100 million of oil, the Arab League

Arab League

The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...

, after a meeting in Cairo, has called for an urgent summit for countries overlooking the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

, including Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

, Somalia, Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Djibouti and Yemen. The summit would offer several solutions for the piracy problem, in addition to suggesting different routes and looking for a more secure passageway for ships.

Another possible means of intervention by the Red Sea Arab nations' navy might be to assist the current NATO anti-piracy effort as well as other navies.

United Nations

In June 2008, following the letter of the Transitional Federal Government to the President of the Council asking for assistance from the international community in its efforts to address acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a declaration authorizing nations that have the agreement of the Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters to deal with pirates. The measure, which was sponsored by France, the United States and Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, lasted six months. France initially wanted the resolution to include other regions with pirate problems, such as West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

, but were opposed by Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

and most importantly by veto

Veto

A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...

-holding China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, who wanted the sovereignty infringement limited to Somalia.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on 20 November 2008, that was proposed by Britain to introduce tougher sanctions against Somalia over the country's failure to prevent a surge in sea piracy. The US circulated the draft resolution that called upon countries having naval capacities to deploy vessels and aircraft to actively fight against piracy in the region. The resolution also welcomed the initiatives of the European Union, NATO and other countries to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia. US Alternate Representative for Security Council Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that the draft resolution "calls on the secretary-general to look at a long-term solution to escorting the safe passage of World Food Programme ships." Even Somalia's Islamist militants stormed the Somali port of Harardheere in the hunt for pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker, the MV Sirius Star

MV Sirius Star

MV Sirius Star is an oil tanker owned and operated by Vela International Marine. With a length overall of and a capacity of of crude oil, the ship is classified as a very large crude carrier or VLCC. Vela is based in the United Arab Emirates and is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian state oil...

. A clan elder affiliated with the Islamists said "The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship. I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship."

On 17 December 2008, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a tougher resolution, allowing for the first time international land and sea occupations in the pursuit of pirates. Four ships, a Chinese fishing boat, a Turkish cargo ship, a Malaysian tug, and a private yacht were seized by pirates that same day. Resolution 1851 takes current anti-piracy measures a step further.

A Russian drafted resolution, Security Council Resolution 1918

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1918

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1918, adopted unanimously on April 27, 2010, after recalling resolutions 1814 , 1816 , 1838 , 1844 , 1846 , 1851 and 1897 on Somalia, the Council called on countries to criminalise piracy within their national laws.The Security Council remained concerned...

, adopted on 27 April 2010, called on all states to criminalise piracy and suggested the possibility of establishing a regional or international tribunal to prosecute suspected pirates.

Trials

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

has become the leading criminal court system for Somali pirates captured in international waters. In the shadow of Fort Jesus, a 16th-century Portuguese stronghold that truly belongs to the era of slave raiders and pirate ships, is the office of Kenya’s premier pirate lawyer, Mr Francis Kadima

Francis Kadima

Francis Kadima is a lawyer based in Kenya, Africa. He is a Human Rights advocate best known for his defending captured Somali pirates in the Kenya Justice System. Kenya is emerging as the venue of choice for Piracy in Somalia cases and an important piece of the worldwide crackdown on piracy. Mr...

. “When I first started handling pirate cases, I thought these guys would be like kidnappers, strong, you know, and really crafty and sophisticated,” Mr. Kadima said. “But not these guys. They’re just ordinary. If anything, they’re expressionless.”

Kenya is emerging as the venue of choice for piracy cases and an important piece of the worldwide crackdown on piracy. The spate of hijackings off Somalia

Somalia

’s coast has stiffened international resolve. Foreign warships would catch suspected pirates cruising around in speedy skiffs with guns and ladders and then dump them back on the Somali beach because of sticky legal questions. Those days are just about gone. When it comes to putting pirates on trial, there are some practical complications, like serving papers to witnesses who may be Filipino or Kenyan sailors with no mailing addresses who spend all year at sea. Or finding a Somali translator in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, India

India

, or Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. In light of those problems, most nations have been hesitant to undertake piracy trials. As a result, there is growing support for the Kenyan solution. In 2008 - 2009 more than six dozen Somali pirates sat behind bars in Shimo la Tewa, Mombasa

Mombasa

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

’s notoriously decrepit prison, which just so happens to be a few miles up the beach from some of this country’s most magnificent palm-fringed resorts. Western diplomats are hoping that this courtroom effort, coupled with a reinvigorated military response involving warships from more than a dozen nations, will put a dent in Somalia’s stubborn piracy problem. At one meeting in Brussels in 2009, donor nations pledged more than $200 million for Somalia, much of it for security, on land and at sea. In 2008, Somali pirates hijacked more than 40 ships, netting tens of millions of dollars in ransom. Many major shipping companies are now opting to sail all the way around Africa instead of risking the Somali seas.

Many of the suspects arrested in military operations in the Gulf of Aden in recent years have been set free for lack of evidence. Nearby countries in Africa have been reluctant to take on the burden of trials. In 2008, the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

was instructed by the Foreign Office not to arrest pirates for fear of breaching their human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

.

In May 2010, a Yemen

Yemen

i court sentenced six Somali pirates to death and jailed six others for 10 years each for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker, killing one cabin crew member and leaving another missing in April 2009.

In May 2010, another Somali, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, pleaded guilty in a New York federal court

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...

to seizing a United States-flagged ship Maersk Alabama and kidnapping its captain last year. He pled guilty, and was sentenced to 33 years imprisonment.

The first European trial of alleged Somali pirates opened in the Netherlands in May 2010. They were arrested in the Gulf of Aden in January 2009 when their high-speed boat was intercepted by a Danish frigate while allegedly preparing to board the cargo ship Samanyolu, which was registered in the Dutch Antilles

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

. The pirates were sentenced to five years in prison, which was less than the maximum possible sentence. It is unlikely the men will be returned to Somalia after their sentence, as Somalia is considered too dangerous for deportation. One of the five has already applied for asylum

Right of asylum

Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...

in the Netherlands. Consequently, there are concerns that trials in European courts would encourage, rather than deter, pirates.

On 1 April 2010, the USS Nicholas (FFG-47)

USS Nicholas (FFG-47)

USS Nicholas , an , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Major Samuel Nicholas, the first commanding officer of the United States Marines. A third-generation guided missile frigate of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, she was laid down as Bath Iron Works hull number 388 on 27...

was on patrol off the Somali coast when it took fire from men in a small skiff. After chasing down the skiff and its mothership, US military captured five Somalis. Judge Raymond A. Jackson, a Federal District Court judge in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

threw out the piracy charge, which dates from enactment in 1819 when piracy was defined only as robbery at sea. The penalty for piracy is mandatory life in prison. The U.S. government is appealing the ruling. In March 2011 the five Somalis were sentenced to life for piracy to run consecutively with the 80-year term. In the same month 13 Somalis and one Yemeni suspected of hijacking and killing four Americans aboard a yacht made their first appearance in federal court in Norfolk.

On 28 January 2011, pursuant to the naval engagement of the pirate mother vessel MV Prantalay (a hijacked Thai

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

trawler) by the INS Cankarso

Car Nicobar class fast attack craft

, the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

and the Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard

killed 10 pirates and apprehended 15, while rescuing 20 Thai

Thailand

and Myanmarese fishermen being held aboard the ship as hostages. The rescued fishermen were sent to Kochi

Kochi

-Places:* Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin* Kingdom of Cochin, a former feudal city-state on Malabar Coast, India** Fort Kochi, one of the three main urban components which constitute the present day city of Kochi, Kerala, India...

while the 15 pirates, of Somali

Somali people

Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

, Ethiopian

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

and Kenyan origin, have been taken to Mumbai

Mumbai

. The Mumbai Police

Mumbai Police

The Mumbai Police is the police force of the city of Mumbai, India. It has the primary responsibilities of law enforcement and investigation within the limits of Mumbai. The department's motto is ""...

have confirmed that they have registered a case against the pirates for attempt to murder and various other provisions under the Indian Penal Code

Indian Penal Code

Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...

and the Passports Act for entering the Indian waters without permission.

The Somali government has questioned the authority of foreign countries to try the pirates abroad. The European Union

European Union

has attempted to focus the prosecutions locally by involving Somalia's neighbors, but Somali authorities have called for the pirates to be tried at home.

Private initiatives

There have been reports of pirates repelled by private initiatives. One such case would have occurred by the end of 2008, by armed personnel of transportation entrepreneur Barthe Cortes.

Other vessel owners and shipping line companies have also hired private security outfits for assistance. One such firm is Espada Logistics and Security Group based in San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

, whose security officers provide on-board protection from a ship's point of entry to its point of destination. They also offer anti-piracy training en route to the Gulf of Aden, and have teamed up with African Shipping Lines, a leading international shipping line company, to provide security to vessels traveling along the coast of East Africa. Another private venture is MUSC, which specializes in counterpiracy and ship's security.

Proposed solutions

In November 2008, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners

International Association of Independent Tanker Owners

International Association of Independent Tanker Owners is the association of the owner of the independent tankers in the world. It started in 1970 to speak out for the independent tankers' owners, non-oil companies and non-state controlled tanker owners, for the safe shipping of oil and...

, a group of ship-owners representing 75% of the world's independent tanker

Tanker

- Transportation :* Tanker , a ship designed to carry bulk liquids** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker...

fleet, asked for United Nations

United Nations

intervention. It called on the United Nations to co-ordinate anti-piracy patrols, and suggested the possibility of a naval blockade

Blockade

A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...

of Somalia and monitoring all vessels leaving the country's coastline. However, NATO responded by saying that it would be impossible to effectively blockade Somalia's vast coast. It also suggested that all home ports of Somali pirates be blockaded, or that ground forces be inserted in Somalia itself to destroy pirate bases.

Ultimately, many authors argue that the long-term solution to Somali piracy is political securitisation. Governments would have to employ socioeconomic measures such as poverty alleviation and good governance in order to deal with piracy (and even terrorism) effectively. In particular, a sustainable solution requires the establishment not only of effective governance but also the rule of law, reliable security agencies, and alternative employment opportunities for the Somali people. This however, would suggest possible military intervention, which there is a presence of animosity towards the idea since 1993's Operation Restore Hope.

On September 12, 2011 Philip Muyanga, a prominent Money Markets columnist with Business Daily reported how sea piracy is driving up the cost of insurance for importers. Mr. Francis Kadima

Francis Kadima

a prominent Kenyan lawyer and Human Rights

Human rights

advocate said commercial interests could not replace fundamental rights of individuals. Mr. Kadima was quoted as saying: “There are no statistics that piracy trials have reduced piracy”.

External links

European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta
Alexandre Maouche: Piracy along the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Phenomena within Somalia, June 2011
SailOrbits.com To protest against Somali Pirates
Piracy Studies A knowledge resource and online bibliography on contemporary maritime piracy
Stig Jarle Hansen, Piracy in the greater Gulf of Aden, Myths, Misconception and Remedies, NIBR Report 2009:29, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, www.nibr.no

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Summary of recent events

Profile

Effects and perceptions

Weaponry and funding

General

Human cost

Profiteers

Sovereignty and environmental protection

Waste dumping

Illegal fishing

Self-defense

Military presence

Current fleet of vessels in operation

Current states that contribute aircraft or military personnel

Former contributions during previous rotation periods

Puntland

Galmudug

Somaliland

Arab League summit

United Nations

Trials

Private initiatives

Proposed solutions

See also

External links