The situation on the ground in Somalia also caused pirates to regroup. (representative)
Somalia, Africa:
The audacious attack in December bore disturbing hallmarks of the kind of piracy that once threatened global shipping off East Africa: a cargo ship was hijacked and its crew was taken to Somalia and then disappeared.
It was the first time Somali pirates have successfully hijacked a foreign ship since 2017, following a number of armed maritime attacks not seen in years around the Horn of Africa.
Analysts warn that Somali piracy poses far less of a threat than it did in 2011, when navies around the world had to deploy warships to repel the scourge and restore order at sea.
But a recent increase in piracy has further raised concerns about maritime security and shipping at a time when key trade corridors around Yemen are under siege.
Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations unit, which monitors piracy, has recorded six incidents off the Somali coast since mid-December, ranging from approaches by crews armed with machine guns and rocket launchers to successful hijackings.
The French maritime security agency MICA Center pointed out in a 2023 report that piracy in Somali waters “may resurgence.” The company recorded nine attacks that year, calling the number “novel.”
Many of these incidents occurred near Puntland, the historic center of Somali piracy. This northern country surrounds the Horn of Africa and has a long coastline on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
MICA center commander Eric Jaslin said the increase in attacks occurred “almost simultaneously” as Yemen’s Houthi rebels began targeting ships bound for Israel in retaliation for a dispute between Israel and Hamas Gaza war.
“Almost at the same time, we started observing piracy off the coast of Puntland targeting dhows,” he said, referring to the traditional wooden fishing boats that ply the Indian Ocean.
hunting ground
Timothy Walker, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said a number of dhow hijackings last year suggested Somalia’s dormant crews may be “re-equipping” to respond to attacks further out at sea.
Somali pirates have traditionally sought to capture a “mother ship” – a motorized dhow or trawler – that can travel greater distances and thus target larger vessels.
Walker noted that since the Houthi attack, many cargo ships have slowed down hundreds of miles at sea, awaiting instructions on whether to head to the Red Sea.
“It creates a hunting ground,” he said.
Analysts say the ships have become particularly vulnerable as some foreign navies move from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea in response to Houthi attacks.
The situation on the ground in Somalia also caused pirates to regroup.
Omar Mahmoud, a researcher at the International Crisis Group, said state elections in Puntland in December and January meant some coastal security positions were left vacant.
“Both these reasons – on land and at sea – provide opportunities for these criminal networks that have always existed,” he told AFP.
The Puntland Coast Guard did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
fishing dispute
In Air, a traditional pirate stronghold on the east coast of Puntland, locals say trawlers from Southeast Asia, Iran and Europe are plundering waters off Somalia, sparking anger among coastal communities.
“The reason for the resurgence of piracy is the prevalence of illegal fishing on the coast,” said Ahmed Abdi Nuh, an elder in El.
Experts say these attacks could still constitute piracy by global definitions and have surfaced time and time again.
“A lot of the justification for catching pirates in the past has been a Robin Hood argument – that they were actually stopping illegal fishing,” Walker said.
Between January 29 and February 2 this year, four fishing vessels from the Indian and Seychelles navies were hijacked, sometimes more than 800 nautical miles (1,500 kilometers) from the coast.
“The further you go from Somalia, the less likely it is to be associated with a fishing scene,” said Hans Tino Hansen, CEO of Danish maritime intelligence and security company Risk Intelligence.
deterrence
Analysts have played down fears that Somali piracy is returning to its bad days, stressing that the presence of foreign navies has deterred once-unbridled maritime crime.
The total number of pirate attacks has dropped sharply from a peak in 2011, when chaos in Somalia and a lack of coast guard allowed pirates to hijack commercial ships and hold crews to ransom.
Since then, multinational naval forces from as far away as Japan, Britain and Brazil have patrolled around Somalia, undermining the once-lucrative trade.
The Navy has advanced systems for detecting piracy and merchant ships are more aware of the risks and more familiar with security procedures than they were in the early 2000s.
Prior to the hijacking of the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier MV Ruen on December 14, no cargo ship had been successfully boarded by Somali pirates since 2017, and before that in 2012.
Mahmoud said the recent increase in piracy was “more likely to be a flare-up than a full-blown resurgence.”
In Ella, locals are also skeptical.
“There are warships patrolling the sea. I don’t believe any pirate in his right mind would take the risk,” said Ahmed Siad, a fisherman in El.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
