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Why some Somali fishers chose piracy as livelihood

Published : Sunday, 17 March, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 644
Nizam Ahmed
According to the latest news all the 23 crew of Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah hijacked by pirates from the eastern Indian Ocean on March 12 last, are safe, but the ship was being moved to a new spot off Somalia as of on March 15.

It is expected that all the crew along with the ship would be rescued after the ship owner SR Shipping Lines, a sister concern of Chattogram-based KSRM (Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills) Group fulfill the demand of the pirates. However, the demands are yet to be detailed by the pirates and the ship owner as well.

Another ship of this company hijacked by another group of Somali pirates in 2010 with 25 crew was rescued after 100 days, following payment of a hefty amount as ransom.

According to shipping sources, the vessel began to move again on March 15 after a day of anchoring at about 7 nautical miles away from the shore of Garacad, Somalia coast.

The pirates took control of the ship on March 12 at around noon and took the crew hostage, when it was sailing for Al Hamriyah Port of UAE carrying cargo coal from Mozambiques Maputo port when the pirates attack.

In December 2010, Somali pirates had hijacked the MV Jahan Moni owned by the same Bangladeshi company in the Arabian Sea. They took 25 sailors and the wife of the nickel-bearing ships chief engineer hostage. MV Jahan Moni was captured near the Lakshadweep group of islands in the Indian Ocean when sailing from Singapore to Europe. After repeated attempts, they were freed from the pirates after 100 days and brought back home after paying demanded ransom amount, which was not disclosed.

Over the past three months, there has been more piracy in the Horn of Africa region than at any point in the last six years, reports CNBC citing the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long and troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the War in Somalia (2006-2009).

According to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the anti-piracy measures in place to enforce the freedom of navigation off the coast of Somalia expired quietly after its latest renewal for three months after 3 December 2021, reports the CNBC.

Since last November, merchant vessels have been the target of about 20% of Somali piracy-related incidents, according to Dan Mueller, lead analyst for the Middle Eastern Region for maritime security firm Ambrey.

Data from 2023 shows that by many low key measures, piracy is on the rise in key global shipping lanes.

There were 120 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships reported in 2023, compared to 115 in 2022, as per the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

The IMB also found increased threats to crew safety, with the number of crews taken hostage rising from 41 to 73 in 2023, and crews kidnapped from two to 14.

Somalia is situated on the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Kenya to the southwest.

Why a section of Somali people chose piracy as livelihood when Somali waters have high fisheries production potential. But this potentiality was depleted following plunder by foreign fishing vessels for decades. On the other hand the Somali domestic fishing sector is small and poorly developed, whereas foreign vessels have fished in Somali waters for at least seven decades. Some foreign vessels and their crew have been viewed by Somali artisanal fishers as a threat to their traditional livelihoods.

Many foreign vessels directly compete for fish, reducing fish populations and destroying marine habitat through bottom trawling. Foreign fishing has increased more than twenty-fold since 1981, and the most rapid increase occurred during the 1990s after the collapse of the Federal government under Siad Barre.

The fall of the Siad Barre government ensued civil war, that made Somalia a failed state, with extensive internal conflicts and major instability continuing until 2012, when the Federal Government of Somalia was established.

The Federal government despite the intervention and support of foreign forces, could not fully establish its authority with threats from jihadist group al-Shabaab, so Somalia remained characterised as a fragile state.

This disorder meant there was no longer effective government policing of Somali waters by the Somali Navy, a weakness then exploited by often large foreign fishing boats, further threatening the livelihoods of local Somali fishing communities.

To protect their interests the local fishing communities formed armed groups to drive away the foreign fishing vessels labeling them as invaders. These groups, using small boats such as small motorised boats, would sometimes hold vessels and crew for ransom. This practice grew into a lucrative trade, where large ransom payments were demanded and often paid. These groups were then considered to be pirates, especially after they began hijacking non-fishing commercial vessels.

With the region badly affected by poverty and government corruption, there are little political motivations at the local level to deal with the crisis. Large numbers of unemployed Somali youth began to see it as a means of supporting their families.

International organizations began to express concern over the new wave of piracy due to its high cost to global trade and the incentive to profiteer by insurance companies and others.

It is largely believed that elements within Somalia collaborated with the pirates both to strengthen their political influence as well as for financial gain.

After the 1998 United States embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing in 2000 in Aden, Yemen, followed by the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on the United States, the US Navy decided to step up its activities around the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, by establishing in stages a multinational anti-piracy coalition known as Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), with an Area of Responsibility (AOR) including some of the worlds busiest shipping lanes, spanning over two million square miles, covering the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman (but not inside the Persian Gulf, which is the responsibility of CTF 152).

This area is a vital artery of world trade from the Far East to Europe and the US, with thousands of shipping movements per year including the transportation of over 27 million barrels of oil. The participating nations have included Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Command of CTF 150 generally rotates between nations on a four monthly basis.

By 2010, these patrols succeeded in steadily reducing the number of piracy incidents. In early 2017, a few incidents of piracy were reported as the navies of Asian and European nations began to more actively rescue hijacked ships, including the bulk carrier OS35.

In January 2023, the Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) was lifted by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) due to a significant absence of Somali pirate attacks in previous years, although Somali pirates still reportedly possess the ability and resources to conduct attacks in the Gulf of Aden region.

The writer is Business Editor, The Daily Observer



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