Pirates and panic

The hijacked oil tanker MV Sirius Star at anchor on November 19 off the coast of Somalia.-AFP

The recent exponential increase in piracy points to the growing risk and uncertainty that now characterise all international economic transactions.

THE history of piracy suggests that pirates do not simply create instability. They also thrive on it in the absence of a centralised or at least coordinated authority. So, the sudden and dramatic increase in incidents of modern piracy, especially off the coast of Somalia, may be one more straw in the wind indicating that globally we are entering a period of upheaval that is not just economic but also geopolitical.

The term pirates comes from the Latin term pirata and ultimately from the Greek root peira, which broadly means the attempt to find luck on sea. Of course, it currently refers not to luck but to a more determined attempt at violence, detention or depredation for private ends against the crew, passengers and goods on a ship (or, more recently, aircraft).

Piracy has a long history, indeed probably as long as that of human seafaring itself. There are documented instances of piracy from as far back as the 13th century B.C. There have been some communities, usually small homogenous groups living by the sea, such as the Thracians in the epoch of classical Greece and the Vikings in medieval Europe who became famous for specialising in this activity.

In more recent times, there has also been a romantic association, typically resulting from films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and other cultural representations of pirates as dashing and swashbuckling rebels against the confines of conventional life. But the lives of most pirates are probably nasty, brutish and short, unlike the idealised versions of popular imagination.

What is clear is how the incidence of piracy has increased whenever there has been broader political and economic uncertainty and turmoil. During the Middle Ages in Europe, piracy was rampant as the lack of a clear central power and territorial conflicts opened up spaces for its effective operation. Similarly, it flourished in the seas around peninsular India during the 16th and 17th centuries when the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagar empire fought for control over the Deccan. In 19th century East Asia, when the control of the Qing dynasty in China over the far-flung regions was weakening, the Wukou pirates of Japan grew increasingly powerful. The famous Caribbean piracy of the 17th century both emerged from and reflected European colonial conflicts over territory in the western hemisphere.

More recently, pirate attacks have tended to be concentrated in the seas and straits around developing countries with heavy sea trade and small armies. Thus, in the 1980s, the coasts around Indonesia and Somalia were the most pirated areas of the world. The evidence on pirate attacks since 1995 (from data maintained by the International Maritime Bureau, or IMB) suggests that hostage-taking for ransom has become the favoured form of pirate activity.

Piracy declined in the 1990s, and also the period 2004-06 was one of relatively few pirate attacks. Only 239 incidents were reported to the IMB in 2006 compared with 329 in 2004 and 276 in 2005. But there was a significant increase in the number of reported attacks in 2007, by more than 20 per cent. It is true that only some part of all pirate attacks are actually reported (so as not to increase insurance premiums on shipping), and the proportion that is reported is estimated to be anywhere between 10 and 50 per cent.

The current year has witnessed an extraordinary increase in the number of pirate attacks although some say that the proportion of successful attacks has declined. Most of the striking attacks have taken place in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somalian coast.

In April, a French luxury yacht with 30 crew members was seized for ransom, which was eventually paid. In October, an Ukrainian ship, MV Faina (Frontline, November 7, 2008), that was carrying a consignment of arms meant for Kenya was seized by pirates. This marked a departure for Somali pirates, who had otherwise tended to concentrate on ransom piracy or taking over ships carrying foodgrain they could plunder. In November, there has been an exponential increase in piracy in this area, and much of it has been widely publicised.

Several of the incidents have involved India-bound ships or Indian crew being taken as hostages. Some of them in this region described in the Weekly Piracy Report of the IMB for the period November 10-15 are as follows:

November 10:

East of Mogadishu, Somalia two speedboats approached a refrigerated cargo ship underway, and pirates armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) opened fire on it. The ship managed to create waves through evasive manoeuvres, which prevented the pirate speedboats from getting closer, and eventually the pirates abandoned the attempt. The ship, however, sustained damage from the gunfire.

Gulf of Aden Pirates armed with RPGs and guns boarded a chemical tanker underway and hijacked it. They are still holding 23 crew members hostage onboard and have sailed the tanker to an undisclosed location in Somalia.

November 11:

Gulf of Aden Two speedboats, with three to four armed pirates in each, chased a bulk carrier underway. The bulk carrier made evasive manoeuvres and managed to contact a warship. A naval helicopter arrived at the location and interrupted the speedboats, which aborted the attack.

November 12:

Gulf of Aden Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a chemical tanker underway.

November 13:

Gulf of Aden Six pirates in a speedboat approached a bulk carrier underway. The ships master raised the alarm, took evasive manoeuvres and managed to call a coalition warship that responded by coming to the location and chasing away the pirate boat, which had meanwhile fired upon the ship with two RPGs and automatic weapons.

Somalia Pirates armed with automatic weapons and RPGs chased and fired upon a container ship underway. Because of the firing, fire broke out in the third officers cabin. The vessel increased speed and made evasive manoeuvres. The pirate boat came alongside on the port side. Pirates tried to embark but were unsuccessful and later aborted the attack. The vessel continued to its destination port.

Gulf of Aden Armed pirates in two speedboats chased a tanker underway. The tanker took evasive manoeuvres and escaped from the pirates.

November 14:

Off southern Somalia Pirates heavily armed with automatic weapons and RPGs in two speedboats chased and fired upon a container ship underway. The master increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and the crew activated fire hoses. Eventually, the pirates aborted the attack, but the ship sustained damage due to gunfire and RPG fire.

Gulf of Aden Pirates armed with automatic weapons in three small speedboats approached a chemical tanker underway. The master contacted a coalition warship and took evasive manoeuvres. The speedboats spread out and approached the vessel at high speed, but ultimately the pirates failed in their attempt to board the vessel.

November 15:

Gulf of Aden Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a chemical tanker underway. The current status of the ship and crew is unknown.

South-east of Mogadishu Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a tanker underway.

As if all this was not action enough, on November 17, Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker carrying an estimated two million barrels of oil (or around one-quarter of Saudi Arabias daily oil output) was seized by pirates just south-east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The ship and the crew have apparently been taken to a location in Somalia while ransom demands are being negotiated. This particular capture took place farther into the sea and away from the coast, marking a significant change in the nature of the pirates operations in the region.

And there has been more excitement: the seizure of a Hong Kong cargo ship laden with wheat bound for Iran; the chase, battle and sinking of a pirate boat by an Indian Navy ship; and the pirates seizure of a Greek bulk carrier all this in the space of a few days.

So, piracy now seems to be ruling the seas, or at least some seas. While this is at least a change from the financial piracy that has ruled the world in the recent past, it does point to the growing risk and uncertainty that now characterise all international economic transactions.