Putting Today's 'Pirate' Attack in Context

A US ship, owned by a Pentagon contractor with 'Top Security' clearance, was seized off the Somali coast. Reports say the US crew has retaken the ship. But the question remains: Why are the pirates attacking?

The Somali pirates who took control of the 17,000-ton "Maersk Alabama" cargo-ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning probably were unaware that the ship they were boarding belonged to a US Department of Defense contractor with "top security clearance," which does a half-billion dollars in annual business with the Pentagon, primarily the Navy. The ship was being operated by an "all-American" crew--there were 20 US nationals onboard. "Every indication is that this is the first time a U.S.-flagged ship has been successfully seized by pirates,'' said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesperson for for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The last documented pirate attack of a US vessel by African pirates was reported in 1804, off Libya, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, is a Denmark-based company with a large US subsidiary, Maersk Line, Ltd, that serves US government agencies and contractors. The company, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, runs the world's largest fleet of US-flag vessels. The "Alabama" was about 300 miles off the coast of the Puntland region of northern Somalia when it was taken. The US military says the Alabama was not operating on a DoD contract at the time and was said to be delivering food aid.

The closest US warship to the "Alabama" at the time of the seizure was 300 miles away. At the time of the seizure, the US Navy did not say how or if it would respond, but seemed not to rule out intervention. ''It's fair to say we are closely monitoring the situation, but we will not discuss nor speculate on current and future military operations," said Navy Cmdr. Jane Campbell.

The seizure of the ship seemed to have been short-lived. At the time of this writing, the Pentagon was reporting that the US crew retook the ship and was holding one of the pirates in custody. At this point, it is unclear if the crew acted alone or had assistance from the military or another security force.

Over the past year, there has been a dramatic uptick in media coverage of the "pirates," particularly in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates reportedly took in upwards of $150 million in ransoms last year alone. In fact, at the moment the Alabama's seizure, pirates were already holding 14 other vessels with about 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau. There have been seven hijackings in the past month alone.

Often, the reporting on pirates centers around the gangsterism of the pirates and the seemingly huge ransoms they demand. Indeed, piracy can be a very profitable business, as the following report from Reuters suggests:

A rough back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the operation to hijack the Saudi tanker, the Sirius Star, cost no more than $25,000, assuming that the pirates bought new equipment and weapons ($450 apiece for an AK-47 Kalashnikov, $5,000 for an RPG-7 grenade launcher, $15,000 for a speedboat). That contrasts with an initial ransom demand to the tanker's owner, Saudi Aramco, of $25 million.

"Piracy is an excellent business model if you operate from an impoverished, lawless place like Somalia," says Patrick Cullen, a security expert at the London School of Economics who has been researching piracy. "The risk-reward ratio is just huge."

But this type of coverage of the pirates is similar to the false narrative about "tribalism" being the cause of all of Africa's problems. Of course, there are straight-up gangsters and criminals engaged in these hijackings. Perhaps the pirates who hijacked the Alabama on Wednesday fall into that category. We do not yet know. But that is hardly the whole "pirate" story. Consider what one pirate told The New York Times after he and his men seized a Ukrainian freighter "loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition" last year. "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits," said Sugule Ali:. "We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard." Now, that "coast guard" analogy is a stretch, but his point is an important and widely omitted part of this story. Indeed the Times article was titled, "Somali Pirates Tell Their Side: They Want Only Money." Yet, The New York Times acknowledged, "the piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago... as a response to illegal fishing."

Take this fact: Over $300 million worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are "being stolen every year by illegal trawlers" off Somalia's coast, forcing the fishing industry there into a state of virtual non-existence.

But it isn't just the theft of seafood. Nuclear dumping has polluted the environment. "In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed," wrote Johann Hari in The Independent. "Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas."

According to Hari:

As soon as the [Somali] government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.
...

This is the context in which the "pirates" have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a "tax" on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia - and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence."

As the media coverage of the pirates has increased, private security companies like Xe/Blackwater have stepped in, seeing profits. A few months ago, Blackwater executives flew to London to meet with shipping company executives about protecting their ships from pirate attacks. In October, the company deployed the MacArthur, its "private sector warship equipped with helicopters" to the Gulf of Aden. "We have been contacted by shipowners who say they need our help in making sure goods get to their destination," said the company's executive vice-president, Bill Matthews. "The McArthur can help us accomplish that."

According to an engineer aboard the MacArthur, the ship, whose crew includes former Navy SEALS, was at one point stationed in an area several hundred miles off the coast of Yemen. "Security teams will escort ships around both horns of Africa, Somalia and Yemen as they head to the Suez Canal... The McArthur will serve as a staging point for the SEALs and their smaller boats."

All of this is important to keep in context any time you see a short blurb pop up about pirates attacking ships. "Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling in our toxic waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in London and Paris and Rome?" Hari asked. "We won't act on those crimes - the only sane solution to this problem - but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 percent of the world's oil supply, we swiftly send in the gunboats."

See my new website.

Comments

[Justtellthetruth]

Anyone who runs off illegal fishing boats or illegal dumpers is a hero. If those people (illegal fisherman of polluters) are hurt during their illegal activities, well, too bad for them.

However, these Pirates are just that, Pirates, who are now targeting total innocents who are not even in Somalian waters nor who have anything to do with Somalia.

The fact that these pirates were killed while engaging in THEIR illegal, unbelievably dangerous, and damaging activities is simply Justice at work, and I hope that justice is served more frequently in the future.

My best regards to the navy, to the freed captain and to president Obama.

[DutchPointer]

OK, about the illegal fishery there can be some truth in the story, but about dumping waste it can't be that European ships are involved, because first, that's all under strict control of comprehensive waste-management and second, more nearby is the huge Atlantic Ocean, easier and cheaper to dump waste if you can manage to do such almost impossible illegal. That's not dangerous too. But there is one problem with waste. You can't ship waste out of the harbor without control where it is going to and who has what to do with it thereafter. That's under strict control.
Perhaps we can't teach the pirates false flag operations they already master? Of course they can buy waste to dump in their own territories as much as they want. There's a market.
And now there is a Somalian coastguard that's cleaning up the whole Indian Ocean?

[Discipulus04]

I read Jeremy Scahill's book on Blackwater. It was very well-researched and superbly well-written. Coincidentally, I know a few Somalians who would attest to most of the facts in this article. A job well done Mr. Scahill.

[boredwell]

If the Western shipping powers are dumping toxic waste in Somalia's water and sending trawlers to take its fish, that counters ALL logic! If the coastal population suffers 300 casualties as a result of radiation poisoning, that's criminal. If portraying the pirates as villians and cutthroats, and the
hijacked ships as victims of greed and extortion, that's PURE paradox.

[richie42]

To quote G&R, where do we go now.

Exactly WHAT is the solution to this all?

Seriously.

[Justtellthetruth]

After special forces takes ALL of these guys out for taking hostages, murder, and exacting ransom, maybe the people of Somalia can give them a medal or something. I, however, will shed not a single tear.

Your story is almost laughable.

[COPerez]

Yes, stories about poor third-world countries where people are starving or otherwise being killed by our avarice are always laughable.

Did you actually read the story?

[Justtellthetruth]

These guys are now trawling for victims FAR from the coast of somalia. They are dangerous sociopaths who deserve death. Hostages? Piracy? Millions in Ransom? They need to be stopped at any cost.

[Michael Lewman]

I have not read much about the irony that our (yes I mean "our") container ship was bringing food to Kenya when it was invaded by Somali pirates. This irony is beginning to sound all too familiar. Despite the continued slaps in the face, I actually applaud the Obama tone in his recent world tour. He has shown his willingness to try something new in addressing our enemies directly, with undeniable, clear deference and respect to nations of all religions. I see strength in admitting that at times in the past this nation has made mistakes. Now that we are clearly on a new, bold course I am very anxious to see the global response. Based on their stated complaints of the past, Al Qaeda should be calling off their terrorist attacks. Arab nations should be rallying around us, as should all the rest of our supposed allies. If (when?) this does not occur, I'll be waiting for our President to make good on the stated promise from his inaugural address "We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." I see the defeat of the Somali pirates as a first, easy test.

[joebaggadonuts]

So if the problem is really fishing trawlers and polluting scows, why don't the pirates take over THOSE vessels? Justifying piracy of rich targets instead of the cause of their troubles is nonsense. AFAIK, not ONE fishing vessel was captured by the Somali pirates. I have no idea what a factory trawler costs these days, but if there were still fish in the ocean it would be pricey. http://www.alasund.is/fst11952.htm

[Ergon]

DOD using a Danish ship under a US flag to carry 'food aid'? Right.

[caphillprof]

The Shipping Act of 1916 requires that U.S.-flag vessel have all-American crews.

[perk]

I amazes me that people here think they have the solution to this problem, or even know what the problem is, having never set foot in the countries of the horn of africa. The hijackings are about funding a militia and making money. Not as a protest about toxic waste and fishing rights ( the fishing problem is Yemeni one by the way). However, piracy is piracy, International does not provide for leniency due to motive.

Information from those that understand this part of the world is valuable to understanding the problem.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2424456.htm

[CitizenZoe]

It is not that I completely disagree with your statement but you don't count for the extreme poverty, civil war and other crazy conditions in Somolia that would make piracy a very suitable and real "employment" opportunity. One doesn't need to step into the borders of this to understand the devestating effects of these environmental factors.

Maybe we should just count ourselves lucky that they decided to become pirates instead of terrorists while we comfortable blog from our offices?

[waylon70]

Pirates ARE terrorists, if I cant sail a US flagged ship anywhere in international waters without back up from the US navy, Why do we have one?

[amadeusfg]

If the fishing problem is a "Yemeni one", then I assume the radioactive waste problem is a "Somali-one". . . Several things. The radioactive waste dumping is enough of a problem in itself. And it is not just a Somali problem. It is a world ocean problem. This time the patrons of those fine restaurants in London and Paris are lucky - they probably won't get contaminated fish. But who is going to keep radioactive dumpers out of Yemen's fishing grounds ?

[poomplet]

"TAKE THIS AS FACT"

????

One hard-left writer in a COMMENTARY says something...with ZERO proof...and it's a "fact"?

I don't think so. Show me the GPS logs...the satellite images showing fishing fleets in their waters illegally...that would be a FACT.

It's not the West's fault that so many African nations can't form stable governments and provide basic security to their citizens. Hell, simply NOT SLAUGHTERING THEM would be a good start.

Why can't wealthy Muslim nations help the millions of Africans that they indoctrinated into Sharia culture? What would happen if the Saudis gave Somalia 4-5 state-of-the-art factory fishing ships?

WE KNOW what would happen....the leaders would keep/sell them & screw the poor, like they do in Ethiopia, Darfur, Zimbabwe and most of central Africa.

[helpontheway]

The reason that there are so few stable governments in Africa has EVERYTHING to do with the West--read your history and I'm also talking about recent history in the 20th century in case your attention span is too short to delve any deeper, it has been in the short-sighted economic interest of Western powers to have unstable governments or malleable and greedy tyrants in charge of African countries (and Latin American countries and Southeast Asian countries, and Middle Eastern countries etc) so as to have unfettered access to abundant natural resources and the sweat shop/plant­ation/mini­ng labor of the poor.

[poomplet]

India was a colonial footstool for Britain until 60 some odd years ago, yet they seem to be 'developing' rather smoothly

South Africa has transitioned from apartheid to 'democracy' without murdering hundreds of thousands of it's citizens...unlike the transition from white to black rule in Zimbabwe.

OF COURSE there is still poverty, corruption and evil in those nations...IT'S EVERYWHERE, in case you didn't notice. But central Africa is unique in it's savageness and, well...pri­mitiveness­. re. genocide, rape, murderous juntas and the way govt's not only IGNORE the poor, but abuse & murder them.

The murder brigades in Columbia et.al. REPRESENT/DEFEND the poor. Ditto w/Laos, Cambodia, et.al.

Zimbabwe is a perfect example...the citizens rallied behind a thug, took back the property from the colonial whites & had an amazing opportunity to show that blacks could run things as well/better than the whites.

How's that workin' out?

[Joethepauper]

Yup! I thought that was common knowledge. That's our M.O. That's how powerful countries stay on top. If we had to rely only on our natural resources, our country would be as environmentally devastated as theirs and we would only have a few hours of electricity per day. The U.S. has 5% of the world's population, but we use 25% of the resources. That means many other people have to go without. Stop dumping waste in the ocean and stop overfishing. We treat the oceans as both a pantry and a toilet. If I had a kiddie pool in my yard with a bass in it, but my nephew pooped in the pool a few days ago, would anyone want to eat that fish? One of the last pirate attacks involved a ship full of benzene....What was a ship full of benzene doing in Somali waters? What was a ship full of benzene doing in ANY waters? Benzene is nasty stuff! Keep it away from the ocean, and if you can't figure out a good place to dispose of it, don't use it. Is benzene really necessary? Is there something else that can be used for whatever benzene is used for?

[James Markopoulos]

Check out the hyperlinks for evidence.
Congratulations Jeremy for putting this into context.
Also, let us not forget who Xe is.

[mrmikes]

The ALL CAPS thing makes me think that the VIENS are popping in your (red) neck. Calm down dear.

[WilliePilgrim]

Thanks for the reality check on just what constitutes piracy. The Somali bandits are much the same when it comes to criminality as the desperate guy that resorts to stealing bread. Rest assured his actions are seen as criminal, but the banker whose greed keeps him from having a paying job is considered non-criminal.
Let's see the developed world take a legitimate interest in the the so-called pirates' plight and do the kind of effective resource protection and management to which we give lip service but rarely do any enforcement, and lets clear up the notion that piracy as being conducted by these Somalis is some kind of joy ride in pursuit of swag. It's disgracefull that nations around the world have ignored the situation that it has come to this.

[KennethBowen]

I haven't heard any pirates demanding an end to illegal fishing/du­mping-toxi­c-waste as a condition of returning hostages, ships, or cargo. Don't they usually ask for cash?

The injustice done to Somalia is terrible. But, the current crop of pirates are thugs and criminals. To attempt to portray them as a 'Coast Guard' or other guardian of their country's resources is absurd. In strong disagreement with many of the other comments, the proper response to hostage taking *is* a swift, "knee-jerk" commando reaction.

[RoloTomassi]

"In strong disagreement with many of the other comments, the proper response to hostage taking *is* a swift, "knee-jerk" commando reaction.'

Nope, sorry, that's simply an idiotic position to take, particularly as a blanket statement.

[UrbanNight]

Thanks Jeremy for providing the context we rarely get from the corporate (and often racist) media. Unfortunately, it maybe way too intelligent for developed countries to first stop their illegal nuclear waste dumping and fishing in another sovereign's waters and see if that will cut down on piracy. Ya think? And no doubt, some may have a problem with black folks aggressively enforcing their territorial prerogatives. While I'm sure that their is a peaceful solution, it maybe already too late because the gangsters like Xe are already loading their guns and counting their money!

[Froggie99]

As an aside, there is a reference to the Sirius Star, a Saudi oil tanker which was hijacked "successfully". The pirates made off with $25 million on that heist.

The owner of the vessel, Saudi Aramco, is in partnership with Shell, proven to be one of the worst polluters on the planet according to U.S. federal agencies (the EPA) and the Louisiana State environmental protection agencies, because of the poisoning of the air in fence-line towns near the New Orleans region (read "Night Fire" by Ronnie Greene).

Maybe Saudi Aramco did not dump nuclear waste and other pollutants off the shores of Somalia, but as far as I am concerned - Poetic justice.

[Joethepauper]

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The so-called pirates aren't the ones we should send the Navy after. Blocade the Somali coast and keep illegal dumping and illegal fishing from happening. These aren't pirates by choice, they are pirates by necessity. When the fish are gone, what are they supposed to do in one of the poorest countries in the world? I'm not aware of a single person the pirates have killed besides a Yemeni fisherman. There are plenty of reports of pirates being killed, but it seems there is only one incident where the pirates killed. Instead of a "war on piracy", how about a "war on toxic waste dumping and illegal fishing"? Oh, but we would be attacking the ROOT of a problem, and that's just not how we do things.

[Archontruth]

And yet these poor, maligned pirates have yet to demand that illegal fishing and dumping stop as a condition of hostage release. They just demand money.

[Nomccain]

What I fail to understand is why these cargo ships are not fitted with machine guns, bazookas, and other forms of protection­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!! These companies could certainly afford to foot the bill for their own protection without relying on our government to protect them. If the pirates destroyed the ships, they'd have no captives to ransom, nor would they have any cargo or ships to ransom. This just blows my mind to think that these giant ships are boarded by illiterate people with M16's and revolvers and riding in fishing boards and the boats are overpowered. Give me a break!

[RonGallion]

I'll bet there is some stupid law that prevents a ship to be armed.

[mr lol]

@ Nomccain. Did you even bother to read the article?

[Joethepauper]

Considering that some of the ships are full of toxic chemicals like benzene or flammable agents like oil, a discharge from a firearm might blow the whole ship out of the water accidentally. That doesn't really affect the pirates because they have nothing left to lose. No fish. No chance of fish in the future with all the toxic waste. It's no different from what we have been doing in the rainforests of South America. The logging, mining and drilling destroys the land, pollutes the rivers, and there are ponds of oil sitting there that they periodically burn the top layer of oil from the ponds. Oh, and plan Colombia sprays illegal chemicals on the plants AND sometimes on the native people themselves. The spraying is supposed to be done within a few feet of the targeted plants, but the sprayers don't want to fly that close, so they spray from hundreds of feet above the plants and the chemicals drift with the wind.

Instead of killing these people, why don't we just stop making their lives so miserable? If I was a poor Somali fisherman with no fish to catch and toxic waste killing the few fish that are left, with a corrupt government doing nothing to help me, I'd be a pirate too. The U.S. would look AWESOME to the world if they did the right thing for the little people every once in a while. Right now, we are the protectors of polluters and illegal fishing.