Somali Pirate Attacks On Decline

HOBYO, Somalia — The empty whiskey bottles and overturned, sand-filled skiffs littering this once-bustling shoreline are signs the heyday of Somali piracy may be over. Most of the prostitutes are gone and the luxury cars repossessed. Pirates while away their hours playing cards or catching lobsters.

"There's nothing to do here these days," said Hassan Abdi, a high school graduate who taught English in a private school before turning to piracy in 2009. "The hopes for a revitalized market are not high."

Armed guards aboard cargo ships and an international naval armada that carries out onshore raids have put a huge dent in piracy and might even be ending the scourge.

While experts say it's too early to declare victory, the numbers are startling: In 2010, pirates seized 47 vessels. This year they've taken five.

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Somali pirates hijacked 46 ships in 2009 and 47 in 2010, the European Union Naval Force says. In 2011, pirates launched a record number of attacks – 176 – but commandeered only 25 ships, an indication that new on-board defenses were working.

The last of the five hijacked this year was the Liberian-flagged MV Smyrni, taken with its crew of 26 on May 10. They are still being held.

"We have witnessed a significant drop in attacks in recent months. The stats speak for themselves," said Lt. Cmdr. Jacqueline Sherriff, a spokeswoman for the European Union Naval Force.

Sherriff attributes the plunge in hijackings mostly to international military efforts – European, American, Chinese, Indian, Russian – that have improved over time. In May, after receiving an expanded mandate, the EU Naval Force destroyed pirate weapons, equipment and fuel on land. Japanese aircraft fly over the shoreline to relay pirate activity to nearby warships.

Merchant ships have also increased their communications with patrolling military forces after pirate sightings, Sherriff said. Ships have bolstered their own defenses with armed guards, barbed wire, water cannons and safe rooms.

No vessel with armed guards has ever been hijacked, noted Cyrus Moody of the International Maritime Bureau. A June report from the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said armed guards have forced pirates to "abort attacks earlier and at greater ranges from targeted vessels."

I must have them on ignore....

"Several posters decried the force being used in the area, and predicted increases in piracy of vessels because of the arming of ships, and increased military presence in the area, along with the notable actions that have taken place, (US SEAL sniper shootings, etc.). Violence will only bring more violence we were told. "

The results are NOT in yet. This is just the first incident in which an armed merchant ship used weapons to defend itself. Once more merchant ships start arming themselves, the pirates WILL escalate their methods.

It's better to be the first mover since the pirates have other unarmed merchant ships to target and they are easy pickings. Once every other merchant ships arm themselves, the first mover advantage goes away and the risk of an escalated armed confrontation will increase.

Actually, we do have some good info on that. We all know about the extreme poverty and lawlessness in Somalia. These pirates don't have anything to look forward to in their lives except live in a life of crime and poverty. Piracy is their pressure valve. As long as there are no viable alternatives to piracy, the pirates will go all the way, including losing their lives.

Another OBAMA policy success story!

Thanks OBAMA!

Perhaps...or maybe you just didn't read them..... It's been a couple of years. Maybe you weren't interested in world news back in those days?

I believe some of the threads are gone, but the search function can help you read some of the ones still in archive if you'd care to....

Here's a couple of posts from one of the threads for example:


Or:



http://archive.slickdeals.net/f/1...ng-Pirates

Doh. Should have known.

Hard to say, but that's a more likely answer than some folks claims that arming yourself has no effect on criminal's behavior, (or even some ridiculous claims that it increases the danger to you).. In US government studies, criminals surveyed said that they would avoid victims that might be armed. Just like what's happening in Somalia.

No, not at all. There's a lot of threads here. Who reads them all? I don't.

So what do you think of the dramatic reduction in Somali pirate activity, after the military actions, and the merchant ships armed up?

The portion of the article you quoted states that the reduction is due almost entirely to the fact that the world's navies have stationed additional assets in the region.

To put it another way, there are more cops on the beat. And more cops equals less crime.

The fact that some MV's have armed guards (the equivalent of CCWs) is all but irrelevant. A couple of pot-bellied mercs w/ AKs on a MV are nothing compared to a USN Arleigh Burke class destroyer.

I think it's great.... and I wonder what they'll turn to next.

Pirates while away their hours playing cards or catching lobsters.

For a look at the reality behind those numbers, an Associated Press team from the capital, Mogadishu, traveled to the pirate havens of Galkayo and Hobyo, a coastal town considered too dangerous for Western reporters since the kidnappers have turned to land-based abductions over the last year.

There they found pirates who once owned vast villas living in darkened, unfurnished rooms, hiding from their creditors.

Prostitute Faduma Ali longs for the days when her pirate customers had money. As she smoked a hookah in a hot, airless room in Galkayo last week, she sneered as she answered a phone call from a former customer seeking some action on credit.

"Those days are over. Can you pay me $1,000?" she asked. That's what she once got for a night's work. "If not, goodbye and leave me alone."

"Money," she groaned as she hung up.

The caller, Abdirizaq Saleh, once had bodyguards and maids and the attention of beautiful women. When ransoms came in, a party was thrown, with blaring music, bottles of wine, the stimulant khat and a woman for every man.

Now Saleh is hiding from creditors in a dirty room filled with dust-covered TVs and high-end clothes he acquired when flush.

"Ships are being held longer, ransoms are getting smaller and attacks are less likely to succeed," said Saleh, sitting on a threadbare mattress covered by a mosquito net. A plastic rain jacket he used at sea dangled from the door.

Are the low homicide and crime rates we've been enjoying, lowest in 50 years, also the result of the tremendous increase in firearms sales, and the majority of states enacting concealed carry laws?

Is the huge increase in the number of shootings at schools or other public places also a result of the tremendous increase in firearms sales, and the majority of states enacting concealed carry laws?

Hard to say.

Can you link to data showing a "huge increase in the number of shootings at schools or other public places"?