Politics and policy
Total cost of Somali piracy menace hits $12bn
A Spanish Navy officer leads out a suspected Somali pirate out of a ship in Mombasa. Piracy cost between $7bn and $12bn in 2010 and analysts say it could top $15bn by 2015. Photo/REUTERS
Posted Monday, May 9 2011 at 00:00
Oceans Beyond Piracy estimates that the total excess costs of insurance due to Somali piracy are between $460 million and $3.2 billion per year, which have steadily increased since the Gulf of Aden was classified as a war risk area in May 2008.
The cost of piracy trials and imprisonment in 2010 was around $31 million, and the excess cost of re-routing ships to avoid risk zones is estimated to be between $2.4 billion and $3 billion per year.
This, coupled with the cost of naval forces and protection, puts the total bill at between $7 billion and $12 billion.
The study reports that the continued growth of piracy could see the numbers of pirates, estimated to be at least 1,500, rise by up to 400 every year.
As a result, the costs of piracy could reach more than $15 billion by 2015.
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 primary mission is Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), also patrolling are warships from Russia, China and India, among others.
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