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MOST ships from Asia pass through the Gulf of Aden in a shortcut to
Europe, through the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
Very large crude oil carriers too big to transit
the Suez Canal go further down to South Africa, passing by Somalia.
Somalia’s coastline stretches 3,898
kilometers, of which 1,204 kilometers are in the Gulf of Aden. The
longer route off South Africa adds nearly $1 million in additional
fuel, labor and the extra week or even two in transit time—all
tension-filled for fear of pirate attacks.
Somali pirates in speedboats use
rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. There is no lack of
armaments as an arms embargo on Somalia since 1992, or nearly 20
years ago, has not been enforced, largely because the country has
had no real government since 1991.
According to the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), Somali pirates either attack ships on the high
seas, often at considerable distances from the shore, or they attack
(and hijack) ships in Somalia’s territorial sea.
Closer to home, pirates have also been busy in
Southeast Asia.
Since 1992, the three littoral States of the
Malacca Strait (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) started
multinational patrols and other countermeasures in the region,
resulting in a marked decline in the number of attacks.
Piracy was already increasing in the South China
Sea, according to the IMO. A number of reports described pirates
posing as officials and attempting to stop and board ships. They
were armed with pistols and assault rifles.
Fishing vessels, particularly around the
Philippines, also received the attention of pirates and armed
robbers.
Faster pirate boats would synchronize their
speed with that of the target and the armed bandits would simply
climb over the gunwale of the ship under attack.
The bandits operated swiftly and accurately,
taking the fish catch, boat engines, fuel, personal effects, or
worse, the boat itself.
Effective law enforcement is difficult in the
area of the South China Sea because of its vastness and the fact
that it is dotted with several uninhabited islands to which the
pirates can retreat.
As recently as December 1, Indonesian pirates
attacked a ship off Tioman island in eastern Malaysia’s South
China Sea. Three previous attacks were made in the same area.
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