Piracy- A New Growth Industry During Tough Times

More and more frequently we are hearing stories of Somali pirates capturing another commercial ship somewhere in the Gulf of Aden. My mind immediately conjures up an old galleon, complete with the Jolly Roger hoisted high, and Captain Jack Sparrow or Blackbeard waving their unsheathed sword at the helpless victims.

Apparently, my Hollywood-shaped view of piracy and the truth are worlds apart. Today most of the pirates are not just scallywags in search of adventure and riches; they are often the destitute in search of basic survival needs. There are thousands of men left homeless, country less and desperate by years of oppression and tribal conflicts in the desert countries in the Horn of Africa. They are easy prey for the warlords and bandits who have decimated their country and are willing to do anything to make a living – even piracy.

This past year there have been over 70 pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia and there are currently 17 ships in Somali ports awaiting ransom payments. The Saudi tanker, Sirius, containing over one hundred million dollars worth of crude oil is being ransomed for a paltry $25 million. (They were recently paid $3 million). As crude oil prices continue to plummet the oil companies are losing money by the second. Most of the ransom money is used to purchase more weapons and seaworthy vessels to expand the buccaneer business, as well as provide money for the pirates and their families. It is a rather bizarre approach to making ends meet, by a group of men who are desperate and have nothing else to lose.

I often wondered how a ragtag group of modern day pirates could capture a monster supertanker. Pulling alongside in a ‘pirate tanker’ and swinging from the dozens of ropes, like they do in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, is not how it is done, apparently. The pirates often are afloat in the shipping routes on an old trawler and appear to be harmless and unthreatening. As a potential victim tanker or cruise ship approaches, the pirates use a number of speedboats to race to the larger vessel and with ropes and hooks manage to board. The pirates are heavily armed and most cargo and passenger ships are basically unarmed. A small group of determined and armed warriors can easily intimidate and capture a larger vessel with ease.

It doesn’t seem right somehow that today’s pirate vessels possess no skull and crossbones, no one legged captain with a parrot on his shoulder and no plank to walk. Who would have ever guessed that high seas piracy would be a growth industry in the early 21st Century?