This is a report I did for my school.
Somali Pirates
Piracy has been around since the earliest times. Since the beginning of the civil war in Somali in the 1990?s piracy there has been a threat to international shipping. Due to increased activity during the last several years many countries have started patrolling the waters off the coast of Somali. Most of the pirates are between the ages of 20-35 years old. They are sometimes former fishermen who say that illegal fishing is threatening their livelihood. Warlords use pirates to get the ransoms, and then split the money, also giving the pirates weapons and supplies as payment.
In the 12 months before November 08 Somali pirates have received over 150 million US dollars in ransoms and deals. On October 7th, 2008 the United Nations enacted Resolution 1838. This resolution stated that countries with vessels in the pirated area would help combat the threat. The UN Security Council also called for a peacekeeping force. Which hasn?t happened yet, although with all the different countries ships already there it wouldn?t make a large difference. There is a four ship NATO task force off the coasts of Somalia patrolling. They have had successes in stopping hijackings. With the continued attacks on shipping there might have to be more military action. America has been stepping up and sending ships and personnel to Somali. They don?t have very effective intelligence, unfortunately, in Somali or surrounding countries. Russia has been sending more ships to Somali, specifically the Horn of Africa. America is saying that military action is not the key, and that economic help should bolster legal professions making less people commit crimes. This would probably make it so there are less pirates but America would have to spend billions to bolster Somalia?s economy. The Russian navy has had a lot of success stop several hijackings and capturing a pirate mother ship. These mother ships are large fishing boats that they have stolen that they used to bring their small zodiacs out into the ocean where the commercial shipping is. The Indian navy has been off the coast of Somalia for several years trying to keep the pirates at bay unfortunately they don?t have many ships. One of their frigates recently sunk a pirates ship after coming under fire from them.
The Russians have established a strong military front in Somalia. With ships working with other countries repelling attacks. A Russian frigate worked along with a British frigate to stop a group of pirates from hijacking a tanker. They used helicopters to scare off the pirates although we don?t know if shots were fired at the pirates. An American ship also was chased for about an hour and was fired upon but was able to evade.
Over the last year attacks have actually increased even with more ships defending the coasts. The groups of pirates have made the Gulf of Aden the most dangerous shipping lane in the world. Basic economics makes it obvious that since more attacks are occurring the pirates must be making a profit. NATO and Russia have proposed actually dealing with the prisoners that they capture. Canada is promoting just releasing them after detaining them for a short time, catch and release. If companies would allow more military action instead of paying them off less pirates would be will to risk there lives. If the economy in Somalia is improved and the world?s military takes a more aggressive approach then the threat of pirates would subside.
This crisis has been going on since 1990s but has just come into the public eye, because of recent attacks on larger tankers and even an attempt on a cruise ship. If the world governments don?t take a stronger approach with dealing with the pirates it will only get worse. If it gets much worse the UN or NATO might have to start sending troops onto the ground. To find there bases and to make a more permanent solution. With no main government in Somalia a ground solution may be necessary.
Information for this report was located at:
Wikipedia.org
Washington Post
CNN.com
BBC News
Well thats all I hope it was enjoyable and enlightened you, I know this is probably a wrong time to post this but im getting offline tonight so I thought I would let the good people at the Escapist have a good (or bad) read.
Somali Pirates
Piracy has been around since the earliest times. Since the beginning of the civil war in Somali in the 1990?s piracy there has been a threat to international shipping. Due to increased activity during the last several years many countries have started patrolling the waters off the coast of Somali. Most of the pirates are between the ages of 20-35 years old. They are sometimes former fishermen who say that illegal fishing is threatening their livelihood. Warlords use pirates to get the ransoms, and then split the money, also giving the pirates weapons and supplies as payment.
In the 12 months before November 08 Somali pirates have received over 150 million US dollars in ransoms and deals. On October 7th, 2008 the United Nations enacted Resolution 1838. This resolution stated that countries with vessels in the pirated area would help combat the threat. The UN Security Council also called for a peacekeeping force. Which hasn?t happened yet, although with all the different countries ships already there it wouldn?t make a large difference. There is a four ship NATO task force off the coasts of Somalia patrolling. They have had successes in stopping hijackings. With the continued attacks on shipping there might have to be more military action. America has been stepping up and sending ships and personnel to Somali. They don?t have very effective intelligence, unfortunately, in Somali or surrounding countries. Russia has been sending more ships to Somali, specifically the Horn of Africa. America is saying that military action is not the key, and that economic help should bolster legal professions making less people commit crimes. This would probably make it so there are less pirates but America would have to spend billions to bolster Somalia?s economy. The Russian navy has had a lot of success stop several hijackings and capturing a pirate mother ship. These mother ships are large fishing boats that they have stolen that they used to bring their small zodiacs out into the ocean where the commercial shipping is. The Indian navy has been off the coast of Somalia for several years trying to keep the pirates at bay unfortunately they don?t have many ships. One of their frigates recently sunk a pirates ship after coming under fire from them.
The Russians have established a strong military front in Somalia. With ships working with other countries repelling attacks. A Russian frigate worked along with a British frigate to stop a group of pirates from hijacking a tanker. They used helicopters to scare off the pirates although we don?t know if shots were fired at the pirates. An American ship also was chased for about an hour and was fired upon but was able to evade.
Over the last year attacks have actually increased even with more ships defending the coasts. The groups of pirates have made the Gulf of Aden the most dangerous shipping lane in the world. Basic economics makes it obvious that since more attacks are occurring the pirates must be making a profit. NATO and Russia have proposed actually dealing with the prisoners that they capture. Canada is promoting just releasing them after detaining them for a short time, catch and release. If companies would allow more military action instead of paying them off less pirates would be will to risk there lives. If the economy in Somalia is improved and the world?s military takes a more aggressive approach then the threat of pirates would subside.
This crisis has been going on since 1990s but has just come into the public eye, because of recent attacks on larger tankers and even an attempt on a cruise ship. If the world governments don?t take a stronger approach with dealing with the pirates it will only get worse. If it gets much worse the UN or NATO might have to start sending troops onto the ground. To find there bases and to make a more permanent solution. With no main government in Somalia a ground solution may be necessary.
Information for this report was located at:
Wikipedia.org
Washington Post
CNN.com
BBC News
Well thats all I hope it was enjoyable and enlightened you, I know this is probably a wrong time to post this but im getting offline tonight so I thought I would let the good people at the Escapist have a good (or bad) read.
