Somalia: The untruths about piracy

THE LIE: The navies and their mainstream media claim that they achieved a decline in piracy

THE REALITY: Never before in history have the cases of piracy around the Horn of Africa been so numerous as in these times (2010) and after the specific multi-national naval operations were launched at the end of 2008; with a thereafter continuously expanding force and naval presence never seen before around Somalia – even not during the Second World War. But at the same time, piracy has increased to an all-time high, with increased violence and escalating armed encounters.

THE LIE: The navies have to blow small, captured ‘piracy’ skiffs out of the water, because they ‘would endanger shipping’

THE REALITY: Most of the so called ‘pirate skiffs’ and little larger open fibreglass boats with an inboard engine destroyed by the navies were earlier stolen by criminal pirate gangs from legitimate fishermen and even from fisheries projects paid for by the World Bank and other donors. But, while the bored crews of especially British and other European warships obviously enjoy the target practice and destroy the boats, the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR) even leaves big vessels like the MV RIM adrift, if – as in this case – it is convenient to NOT impound the ship for further investigations, though credible reports stated that the vessel had been an illegal weapons transporter for groups in Yemen. The ship was abandoned by the crew after they killed all their captors under the watch of the EU.

THE LIE: All shipowners whose vessels are held at the Somali coast lose money

THE REALITY: Certainly for small shipping companies, whose vessels are not – or not directly or indirectly – insured against those sea-jackings, a piracy case can sometimes even mean total bankruptcy. But a good number of vessels actually made more money during the capture than if they had been free to operate during the time of the hostage crisis.

This has to do with the fact that the shipping business is at the moment at a low, and many cargo vessels and tankers are sitting jobless at their anchorages and only cost their owners real money. But if a well-insured vessel is captured around Somalia, the insurance pays the shipowner not only the theoretical daily loss (some got around US$50,000 per day), but also the ransom and the costs of the – therefore often prolonged – ‘negotiations’ of the crisis management team and ransom delivery work of the risk management companies involved.

This can be a lucrative business and a win-win-situation for the shipowners and the pirates as well. Even the insurance industry profits from the Somali piracy, with new insurance forms springing up like the K&R (kidnapping and ransom) insurance, especially for the passage through the Gulf of Aden. Due to stiff competition among the insurers for this lucrative sector, it has now become much cheaper for the shipowner, who today only needs to pay as little as US$15,000 per voyage – much cheaper than to hire a bunch of British ex-SAS mercenaries and their guns. ‘At first the rates were a little higher than they should have been and then over time insurers realised they could reduce their rates and still make money,’ said K&R manager Greg Bangs.

No wonder that the UK opted to stand against UN measures to stop ransom payments and pirate business and is holding up UN planned sanctions against several pirates: London's finest lawyers and contractors come in and are not interested in having the flow of the money stopped. On the other hand, if piracy is not stopped beforehand, payment is the only safe way to get the ships and crews released.


Sure enough, the final bill is always paid by the end-user of the transported goods and therefore piracy does serious damage economically. In the layers in between, however, not only the pirates earn, and that lets certain people – even in high offices – not push for a real solution, which has to be implemented on the ground. Still, Guillaume Bonnissent at London’s Hiscox Ltd, the world’s largest underwriter for piracy coverage, says the only long-term solution to piracy is to help Somalia. ‘All the money would be much better spent in assisting the Somalis in capacity building,’ he said.

In addition to this, the Somali coastline has become a welcome dumping ground for no longer seaworthy vessels, whereby it is cheaper to stage a case of piracy or distress and sink the vessel than to follow international standards to properly dispose of the vessel at legitimate scrap-yards that adhere to environmental obligations.

THE LIE: The navies act under valid UN Security Council resolutions

THE REALITY: The navies have – according to international and Somali national law – no right whatsoever to enter the 200 nautical miles (nm) territorial waters of Somalia. The UN Security Council resolutions, to which the navies repeatedly refer, explicitly state that they would be only valid and applicable with the consent of the Somali government, i.e. the Somali parliament – which never has been given. A fictive letter [said to be] of former Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf was never produced, and a letter signed ‘on behalf of the Somali government’ by Mauritanian former UNSRSG (special representative of the secretary-general) Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is legally nil and void.

THE LIE: EU NAVFOR (. See the archive at www.australia.to

EMERGENCY HELPLINE:
TEL/SMS: +254-719-603-176 / +254-733-633-733


East Africa ILLEGAL FISHING AND DUMPING HOTLINE: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: office[at]ecoterra.net


EA Seafarers Assistance Programme:
Tel: +254-734-437838 /+254-714-747090
SMS: +254-738-497979



BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article was first published by ECOTERRA Intl.
* ECOTERRA Intl. is an international nature protection and human rights organization, whose Africa offices in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania also monitor the marine and maritime situation along the East African Indian Ocean coasts as well as the Gulf of Aden. ECOTERRA is working in Somalia since 1986 and does focus in its work against piracy mainly on coastal development and pacification.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.