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By
Katharine Houreld
Nairobi, October 3, 2009 – Pirates have resumed their daring attacks on
shipping vessels after weather off the Somali coast improved, a maritime
official said on Wednesday, but warships in the area and precautions
taken by mariners themselves have helped thwart the attempted
hijackings.
Cyrus Mody at the International Maritime Bureau said international
forces intervened in two attacks on Saturday. The pirates resumed their
activity in mid-September after about a six-week break.
"Since the attacks resumed after the monsoon subsided there have been no
successful hijackings off Somalia, which is a very positive step," Mody
said. "We attribute this very largely to the actions of the naval forces
in the area and better mariner preparedness."
A Turkish frigate intervened after the Panamanian-flagged Handy V came
under fire from pirates in two small skiffs Saturday. The crew fired
parachute flares at them before locking themselves in the bridge and
contacting coalition ships for assistance. The same day, a Saudi Arabian
warship sent a helicopter to assist the Greek-owned Panamax Peppo after
it was chased by pirates.
Tougher time
The number of attacks has already surpassed those during all of 2008,
but the rate of successful hijackings has remained steady, showing that
the pirates are having a tougher time in commandeering a ship once they
launch an attack. In 2008 the pirates' success rate was nearly 38
percent, while this year it is about 20 percent, according to IMB
figures.
The US Fifth Fleet said there have been 146 attacks this year already.
Of those attacks, 32 have been successful, IMB said. Last year there
were 111 reported attacks and 42 successful hijackings, according to IMB.
The increase in attacks comes despite a much heavier naval presence and
the creation in January of the US-led Combined Taskforce 151, a force
especially dedicated to fighting piracy. Rear Adm. Scott Sanders, its
commander, told The Associated Press last month that stronger
countermeasures by merchant crews - including special armed units - are
cutting the ability of pirates to storm the ships.
Mired in chaos
Sanders said 80% of foiled pirate attacks are accomplished by merchant
crews without help from military vessels.
Somalia remains mired in chaos, with splits appearing among both the
Islamist insurgent alliance and the unstable coalition government. One
faction of the insurgency recently publicly allied itself to al-Qaida,
guaranteeing foreign nations will continue to pump arms into the
impoverished nation.
"It is not the warships who can stop the pirates, it is the people
ashore who can stop the pirates," said Mody. "The pirates will keep
trying."
But Somalia has not had a functioning government for 18 years and is
unlikely to be able to police its lawless coasts anytime soon.
Source: Sapa, Oct 01, 2009
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