Somali pirates of the Indian Ocean strike again, unsettling a strained shipping industry

The advantages of the geographical location, coupled with the current situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, have reignited piracy activities, experts say

When the global shipping industry is grappling with attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea, the pirates of Somalia come back to haunt merchants in the Indian Ocean.

After a period of relative calm since 2017, they hijacked a Bangladeshi-flagged vessel, MV Abdullah, earlier this week.

The Horn of Africa, which includes Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, borders the Gulf of Aden to the north, while Yemen is located on the opposite side.

The advantages of the geographical location, coupled with the current situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, have reignited piracy activities, according to international organisations and experts.

From 2005 to 2012, Somali piracy was rampant, but it gradually declined due to the efforts of international organisations, coalitions, and local security forces.

Despite a decrease in Somali pirate activities after 2017, recent developments suggest a resurgence of piracy in the region.

On Dec 14, 2023, pirates seized a bulk carrier approximately 700 nautical miles east of the Somali town of Bosaso. Since then, there have been multiple other instances of ship hijackings.

On Mar 12, a group of Somali pirates commandeered MV Abdullah, a vessel belonging to SR Shipping Line, which is owned by the Bangladeshi industrial conglomerate KSRM Group, and took 23 sailors hostage.

The families are anxiously awaiting news about the safety of the crew members aboard the ship as the pirates reportedly threatened to execute them one by one unless a ransom is paid.

COMMENCEMENT OF MARITIME PIRACY

BBC reported in February that hijackers are once again targeting ships off Somalia's coast, sparking memories of a spike in attacks over a decade ago.

After military rule ended in Somalia in 1990, the country faced political turmoil and internal conflicts for two decades. Somalia lacked effective security forces, allowing foreign fishing vessels to increase in its waters, the report said.

The initial wave of attacks over a decade ago saw coastal fishermen turning to piracy after their livelihoods were harmed by illegal fishing from foreign trawlers.

The IOC noted that current Somali fishery policy has led to another rise in foreign fishing vessels, potentially driving coastal Somalis back into piracy, said the report.

RECENT SPIKE IN PIRACY

According to EUNAVFOR ATALANTA, also known as European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta, a current EU military operation that was launched in 2008 to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, 19 ships were seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Sea area from Nov 24 to Jan 29 of the previous year along the coast of Somalia.

In the past three months, piracy in the Horn of Africa region has surged to its highest level in the last six years, according to a report by the US news agency CNBC, citing the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), an independent think tank.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia had decreased in recent years following its peak in 2011, during which Somali pirates carried out 212 attacks, as per the report.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted seven resolutions addressing piracy in Somalia between December 2010 and March 2022, allowing foreign naval and air forces to enter and patrol Somali waters, it said.

Additionally, the UNSC authorized the EUNAVFOR ATALANTA, collaborating with a US-led task force, to employ "all necessary means to suppress piracy and armed robbery at sea."

The annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded 120 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2023, up from 115 in 2022.

The 2023 annual report reveals that out of these incidents, 105 vessels were boarded, nine were subject to attempted attacks, four were hijacked, and two were fired upon.

Furthermore, the number of crew taken hostage rose from 41 in 2022 to 73 in 2023.

The United Nations Security Council lost its mandate to monitor piracy in 2022, and it has not been renewed, while the experts have cautioned that anti-piracy measures have declined in recent years, opening the door for more attacks, the shipping news publisher TradeWinds said in a report.

Analysts suggest that Somali pirates are resurging in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, possibly due to the focus of international forces on countering Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The EUNAVFOR ATALANTA confirmed in a statement on Thursday the piracy event involving the Bangladesh-flagged Bulk carrier merchant vessel Abdullah.

It said Operation ATALANTA has been the first actor to respond.

Currently one ATALANTA ship is shadowing the pirate vessel.

"Furthermore, Operation ATALANTA is in contact with Bangladesh and Somali authorities, with our partners in maritime security in the area, such as the Indian Navy, and regional forces, to coordinate the most efficient action.

The situation on board is that Pirates have seized and taken its 23-member crew hostage. The crew is safe, and the action is still ongoing. The ship is sailing towards the Somali coast."

PIRACY RANSOM REVENUE

From 2005 to 2012, hijackings off Somalia and the Horn of Africa netted $339 million to $413 million in ransom, with much used for global crime, says a joint World Bank, UNOCC, and INTERPOL report.

Pirates were found linked to activities like khat trade and human trafficking.

In December 2010, Somali pirates had hijacked the Bangladeshi vessel MV Jahan Moni in the Arabian Sea. They took 25 sailors and the wife of the nickel-bearing ship’s chief engineer hostage.

After repeated attempts for 100 days, they were freed from the pirates and brought back home.

The ransom amount was not disclosed publicly, but the sailors and the ship were released after a deal was made.

Reports from various media outlets suggest that MV Jahan Moni was freed for approximately $500.06 billion.

MARITIME SAFETY CONCERNS GROW

In the TradeWinds report, Christian Bueger, director of the shipping safety and policy advisory group Safe Seas and a professor at the University of Copenhagen, highlighted a decline in anti-piracy measures, potentially leading to increased attacks.

The combined international anti-piracy task force EUNAVFOR only currently has one ship contributed by the Spanish Navy, according to the report.

Only the Indian Navy has managed to maintain its counter-piracy force in the region, it said.

Indian Navy ship INS Sumitra rescued two Iranian fishing boats with 36 crew members from Somali pirates, Reuters reported on Jan 30.

Prof Bueger urges countries like China, Japan, and South Korea, which are not directly involved in the Red Sea, to bolster naval presence and assist the Indian Navy in combating piracy.

[Writing in English by Arshi Fatiha Quazi; editing by Osham-Ul-Sufian Talukder]