Global News Desk:
In April 2005, the MV Feisty Gas,
a Hong Kong-flagged LPG tanker, navigated the waters of the Indian Ocean near
the coastline of Somalia, a country marked by significant political
instability. Earlier that year, Somalia experienced heightened unrest,
including the assassination of a police chief in Mogadishu and the displacement
of the newly formed cabinet from the country. These events were part of a
prolonged history of division and violence spanning decades, which had plunged
the population into severe hardship.
The pirates who attacked MV
Feisty Gas would originally have been part of a group of people who lived along
the coast of Somalia, relying on the lengthy coastline of the country for
fishing. With frequent government collapses and a lack of stable authority in
the country, there was no one left to protect these fishermen, whose waters
were soon being exploited by foreign fishing vessels with
environment-threatening fishing technology like underwater lights and illegal
nets.
Some of these fishermen took
matters into their own hands, and since the early 90s, conducted small-scale
pirate activities mainly in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, hijacking foreign
fishing vessels and "detaining" their crew, freeing them for a
"fine". By the mid 2005s, however, amid continued government
instability, piracy increased in Somali waters.
MV Feisty Gas from Hong Kong
happened to be the one of the most ambitious attempts at piracy in the region
until that time. The company that owned it paid the pirates USD 315,000 as
ransom for freeing the ship and its crew. In 2005, a total of eight vessels
were successfully captured.
Attacks continued through 2006,
when another eight vessels were successfully captured and ransomed by these
Somali pirates. Between 2006 and 2009, Somalia found itself in war. Ethiopia
intervened in the ongoing civil war against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) who
had taken some effective steps against piracy.
As the war raged on, an uptick in
piracy followed.
In 2007, a Danish vessel named MV
Danica White fetched another 723,000 dollars, as the attacks increased in
profile and number, rising to 11 successful captures through the year. In early
2008, another Danish-flag bearing vessel was captured, released for another
700,000 dollars.
Piracy increased dramatically in
2008, with a total of 22 successful hijackings. Some of the notable ransom
payments include a payout of around 750,000 euros from a Spanish ship, before
the stakes were raised once again. Two Malaysian vessels were freed for 4
million dollars in September, followed by the Japanese ship, MV Stella Maris,
which was ransomed for USD 2 million in October. More ships from Japan,
Germany, Thailand, and France were captured and released for ransoms during
this time.
One of the most notable piracy
incidents during this time was when a Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 tanks,
including ammunition and arms, was captured by Somali pirates. The pirates
demanded an eye-watering USD 14 million for ransom, but eventually settled for
3.2 million dollars for a release.
Piracy along the Somalia coast
and in the Indian Ocean became a major headache for the international community
between 2009 and 2011, with 95 successful hijacks in three years, according to
data by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and World Bank.
Ransoms rose sharply in these
three years, with cumulative revenue of all ransoms collected in the region
reaching USD 330 million according to high estimates, and 278 million by low
estimates. On average, a ship fetched USD 2.20 million in 2009, 2.67 million in
2010, and 5.04 million in 2011.
Among these ships was a
Bangladeshi vessel named MV Jahan Moni. With 25 crew and 43,000 tonnes of
nickel ore, the ship was captured in December, 2010, and then ransomed for over
USD 4 million. The ship and crew were safely returned.
Starting from 2008, due to
efforts by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and the UN Security
Council, foreign countries were allowed to fight piracy in Somali waters with
the authorisation of the government. These efforts took time to take effect,
but by the end of 2011, piracy attacks came down. In 2012, only eight
successful hijacking attempts were made, the lowest in six years.
Since then, piracy off the coast
of Somalia had largely been considered a problem solved by the international
community. Attacks were few and far between, and meanwhile, first signs of
stability started to show in Somali politics. The Federal Government of Somalia
took power in 2012, and has been in power since. Although things have remained
far from peaceful, with insurgencies like Al-Shabaab waging war, Somali piracy
was largely in check.
In fact, in January 2023, the
High Risk Area status was lifted from the Indian Ocean due to a lack of
significant pirate activity in the ocean.
The situation changed again
following Israel's invasion of Gaza late last year. Houthi rebels in Yemen have
begun piracy in the red sea and created major disruptions to world trade. With
the international community and security forces' attention switched elsewhere,
it is feared that Somali piracy is making a comeback. In November, 2023, a
Liberian-flagged ship owned by an Israeli billionaire was attacked.
The attack on MV Abdullah, a
Bangladeshi bulk carrier, marks a return to ambitious levels of piracy by the
Somalis after a long time. While efforts are ongoing to rescue the ship, the
country waits with bated breath for the safe return of each and every crew
member.