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Recent Pirate Attacks | Pirate Attacks Map | Links and Resources Somalia is a chaotic and nearly governmentless nation off the east coast of Africa, and it is home to the world's best known contemporary pirates. These pirates, who operate a financially lucrative ship-hijacking operation, capture merchant ships off the coasts of Yemen, Somalia, and Kenya, and then hold them for ransom. The ship owners and their insurance companies usually pay the ransom, sometimes in the millions of dollars, because it is far cheaper than losing the ship and cargo. For example, the Saudi oil tanker seized on Nov. 17, 2008, had just been built, at a cost of $150 million, and carried an oil cargo valued at $100 million. Paying a ransom of even several million dollars would save the ship and crew. Naval vessels from around the world (United Stated, United Kingdom, Russia, India, others), patrol the Somali coast to protect merchant vessels. Due to Somalia's proximity to the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal, nearly 16,000 ships travel off the coast every year. On Nov . 18, 2008, the Indian Navy ship INS Tabar battled a pirate "mother ship" and sank it, killing an unknown number of pirates. The reasons piracy is thriving off the Somali coast include the state of anarchy in Somalia since the early 1990s. Civil war destroyed the government, and in 2006, Ethiopia invaded, (with American aid), to prevent the rise of an Islamist government in Somalia. Also, as a result of the fall of the Somali government, foreign fishing ships began fishing the lucrative tuna catch off the Somali coast, thereby causing economic damage to the Somali fishing industry. Somali fishermen, with ready access to small-arms and portable rockets due to the civil war, took to the seas to make a living attacking foreign fishing and cargo ships off their coast. This spontaneous privateer activity eventually turned into the highly organized and more heavily-armed pirate organizations which have recently seized a Ukrainian cargo ship full of weapons and the Saudi oil tanker. On April 8, 2009, Somali pirates attacked an American ship, the Maersk Alabama, some 380 miles off the Somali coast. The standoff between the four pirates and the U.S. Navy ended with the deaths of three of the pirates. For further details, see Somali Pirate Attack on the American Ship Maersk Alabama (April 2009). See also: History Guy: The Barbary Wars--America's original response to piracy in the early 1800s. April 8-12, 2009 United States Somali pirates seized an
American-flagged ship, the Maersk Alabama in the
Indian Ocean on April 8, 2009. click
here for details November 19, 2008 Thailand Somali pirates hijack a Thai
fishing ship with 16 crew members off the coast of
Horn of Africa. November 18, 2008 India Indian Navy's stealth frigate
INS Tabar spotted a pirate ship accompanied by
speedboats and intercepted it. After the pirates
threatened to attack, the frigate opened fire at
and sank the main ship. There were no casualties
reported on the Indian side and the number of
pirates killed in this operation is unclear. After
the "mother ship" was destroyed, the pirates tried
to flee in the two accompanying speedboats. The
Indian Navy chased the boats and found one
abandoned while the other escaped into darkness.
Though the Indian Navy did not specifically
mention, the U.S. Department of State said that the
Indian Navy did capture some of the pirates. This
was the third time the INS Tabar fought pirates in
a week. Nov. 17, 2008 Saudi Arabia The Liberian-flagged,
Saudi-owned ship MV Sirius Star, which is owned by
the Saudi oil company Aramco, was hijacked 450
nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya with 25
crew members aboard. The 1,080 foot-long vessel was
carrying 2,000,000 barrels of crude oil valued at
$100 million. This is the farthest Somali pirates
have traveled to hijack a ship, and is far south of
the "Maritime Security Patrol Area" patrolled by
international warships in the Gulf of
Aden. Nov. 14, 2008 China The Chinese fishing vessel
Tianyu No. 8 or Tanyo 8 was seized by Somali
pirates while fishing off the coast of
Kenya. Nov. 14, 2008 Unknown The British private security
service Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions
claimed to have repulsed an attack on an
unidentified chemical tanker using water hoses and
a magneto-acoustic device. November 12, 2008 Turkey The Turkish ship Karagol owned
by the Istanbul-based Turkish shipping company YDC
Denizcilik A.S, was hijacked off the coast of Yemen
with 14 crew members aboard. Notably the second
Turkish vessel to be hijacked in a matter of two
weeks, the ship is reported to be carrying 4,500
tons of unspecified chemicals, en route to Mumbai,
Kenya. November 11, 2008 Denmark The MV Powerful, a
Danish-registered cargo ship, was attacked by
pirates onboard a dhow. Russia has claimed that the
pirates tried twice to seize the vessel, but they
were rebuffed by Russian and British helicopters,
though Russian involvement has been disputed by the
Royal Navy. The dhow was later detected by HMS
Cumberland, and its unit of Royal Marines was
dispatched in rigid-raider craft to try and stop
the dhow. Whilst circling the dhow, the Marines
were fired upon by the pirates. The Marines
returned fire, killing two pirates, and forcing the
remaining crew to surrender. The dhow was then
boarded and captured by the Marines. A Yemeni male
was found onboard, and he later died from his
injuries; the British Ministry of Defense reported
that it was unsure whether the injuries were caused
during the gunfight, or beforehand. Nov. 11, 2008 India MV Jag Arnav, 38,265-ton bulk
carrier owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern
Shipping Company, raised an alarm when pirates
tried to board the ship. Indian Navy's INS Tabar,
which about 25 nautical miles away at the time of
the distress call, rushed a Chetak helicopter
carrying a team of MARCOS to the scene and
successfully thwarted the hijack attempt. The
incident took place 60 nautical miles from Aden.
The Indian Navy also foiled an attempt by pirates
to a board MV Timaha, a Saudi Arabia registered
cargo ship. November 7, 2008 Denmark The Danish-owned,
Bahamas-registered ship MV CEC Future carrying
unknown cargo was seized with 13 crew members,
consisting of 11 Russians, 1 Georgian, and 1
Lithuanian. October 29, 2008 Turkey The Turkish ship MV Yasa
Neslihan was hijacked. The vessel with a crew of 20
was carrying iron ore from Canada to China. The
ship's owning company, Yasa Holding, was alerted by
an onboard alarm system. Turkish authorities are
seeking help to rescue the ship, but there has been
no contact made with the pirates. Links and Sources: Islamists go after pirates who took Saudi ship: Criticize theft from Muslims--Washington Times, Nov. 22, 2008 Pirates bolster defences around hijacked tanker --Times Online, Nov. 21, 2008 To turn the tide on piracy in Somalia, bring justice to its fisheries--Nov. 20, 2008 Indian navy sinks suspected pirate "mother" ship--Associated Press, Nov. 19, 2008 Somali pirates transform villages into boomtowns--Associated Press, Nov. 19, 2008 U.S. Urges Merchant Ships to Try Steps to Foil Pirates--NY Times, Nov. 19, 2008 Japan May Use Navy to Protect Ships Off Somalia, Nikkei Says--Bloomberg.com, Nov. 19, 2008 Saudi Supertanker Hijacked By Somali Pirates--NPR, Nov. 18, 2008 |
Related
Conflicts PREDECESSOR:
(Related conflicts and events that occurred
before) Somali Civil War
(1990-Present) CONCURRENT:
(Related conflicts occurring at the same
time) Ethiopian
Intervention in Somalia
(2006-Present) Djibouti-Eritrea
Border
War
(June,
2008) Somali
Pirate Attacks
(2006-Present) U.S.
Operations Against al-Qaida in
Somalia
(2006-Present) SUCCESSOR:
(Related conflicts that occur later) None
yet See
also: Wars
of the Horn of Africa
Read
the History Guy Weblog and the
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and Conflict Journal--New Pakistan's
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Bhutto's
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Martial Law Endangers the War on
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Iran--posted on
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Again?--posted on
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at War: French Victories and
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11, 2007 America
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2007 Cinco
de Mayo, 1862: The Battle Of
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5, 2007 The
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To Coup, or not to Coup, that, is the
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2, 2007 Canada's
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current uprising in Myanmar. North
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intent to harm America. Current
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world. Military
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listing of military coups in modern Turkey
(1960-1997). Comparing
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America's wars and comparing their length in
months. War
in Afghanistan--Details
on the origins of this ongoing war; part of the War
on Terror Ethiopia-Somalia
War of 2006*New*--A
brief description of the Ethiopia-Somalia War which
began in 2006, and is a part of the larger Somali
Civil War. Ethiopia-Somali
Wars and Conflicts*New*--Listing
the wars and conflicts between Ethiopia and
Somalia Wars
of Germany--The
wars and conflicts of Germany from the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 to the War in
Afghanistan. Iraq
War: Links and
Resources*New*--Links
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War: Prisoner Abuse and Abu Ghraib Links and
Resources*New*--Links
and resources on the Iraq War's biggest
scandal. Iraq
War: Battles and
Campaigns*New*--Links
and resources on Iraq War battles and military
operations. Israel-Lebanon/Hezbollah
War of
2006--*New*--Details
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border which began in July, 2006! Israel-Lebanon
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Source:
AFP