Transport

Fresh piracy attacks off coast of Somalia send shockwaves

pirate

Armed Somali pirates carrying out preparations. PHOTO | MOHAMED DAHIR | AFP

Recent attacks on vessels off the coast of Somalia are causing jitters among shippers and governments that piracy, which they thought had been slain, is coming back to haunt Indian Ocean waters.

The latest statistics from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) show that while the waters seem to be calming down in the rest of the world, piracy off the coast of Somalia is on the rise.

In the first quarter of the year there were two successful hijackings including that of a Sri Lankan vessel, the first time a commercial carrier had been seized in over five years.

In the second quarter, an Indian dhow was hijacked, one of five piracy incidents off Somalia while vessels on the Gulf of Aden came under fire.

“The incident reveals that Somali pirates still retain the skills and capacity to attack merchant ships from coastal waters,” writes the IMB.

While the number of incidents may seem small compared to the peak of 237 actual and attempted attacks in 2011, they are sending shockwaves in merchant shipping circles because they mark an end to a lull in Somali piracy where there have been no successful major attacks in half a decade.

Governments in the region and across the world are now scratching their heads, trying to figure out if these latest incidents mark a larger trend that needs to be nipped or they are one-off events.

In April, the United States (US) Africa Command in Djibouti said that while it does not think that this is the beginning of a new trend of piracy, there is need to watch the waters closely.

Various reasons have been fronted for the resurgence. One is that seafarers, safe from attacks for so long, have become complacent and relaxed their security.

For instance, experts said that the Sri Lankan vessel was an easy target, considering how low it was; its proximity to the Coast; and how slow it was moving.

Last year the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation decided not to renew its mandate securing these waters citing the period of calm and the need to redistribute resources to the Mediterranean.

However, governments in East Africa continue to police the waters with support from the US and the European Union. A number of non-traditional players including China and Japan, have also stepped up their military presence in the region.

The US Africa Command has cited the drought in the region as a cause for the attacks, pointing out that most of the targets it had observed during the first quarter were small vessels carrying food or oil.

Locals interviewed by Qatar-owned television network Al-Jazeera pointed to yet another reason — growing disgruntlement at foreign fishing in Somali waters coupled with small arm proliferation.

Fishermen in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland are unhappy with their government for giving a rising number of foreign vessels permission to fish in their waters.

People facing food scarcity are turning to the oceans for their food and finding their waters taken over by foreign vessels, fishing legally and illegally.

Whatever the cause of the return of piracy, the IMB is warning vessels moving through the region to stay on the alert.

“All vessels, esepecially those transiting close to the Somali Coast are at risk of being targeted by Somali pirates,” the Bureau says.

Should these incidents prove more of a trend than a one-off, the industry could again begin counting its losses.

Six years ago, when Somali piracy was at its peak, the global economy was taking a hit of an estimated Sh1.8 trillion ($18 billion).

In Kenya, tourist numbers dwindled. Insurance and the costs of imported goods rose as shippers started approaching the Port of Mombasa with caution.

Regional and international players swung into action. The UN Security Council declared piracy an international threat.

The United States (US), Nato and the European Union (EU) all launched operations on Indian Ocean. These efforts seemed to work for five years.