Pirates’ Aden

The response was much needed since the Somali pirates don’t follow the traditional pirate practice—a quick hit-and-run attack—and instead have started holding ships for ransom.

Pirates’ new formula: Attack and hold

Their initial successes in holding vessels to ransom, say naval officers, have made pirates so bold that they are now attacking bigger merchant vessels. The tactics are simple: a pirate group consists of a ‘mother vessel’ that acts as a floating logistics base and two or more speedboats that take on a merchant ship.

The mother vessel searches the seas for vessels passing by and launches the speed boats—with groups of 8-10 heavily armed bandits—to catch up with the merchant ships. Pirates prefer attacking slower ships such as heavy cargo vessels or tankers.

Once under attack, there is little that a ship can do except increase its speed. Most merchant vessels are unarmed, with the exception of a few Israeli ships that have machine guns on board. The standard practice is to take ‘evasive manoeuvers’, which basically means steering out of the path of pirate vessels or generating a larger ‘wave’ to throw the smaller speedboats off course.

A more ‘close in’ tactic is to use high-pressure fire hoses—meant to douse flames on board—to wash off pirates who are attempting to board the ship. However, high-speed water jets can do little against automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades that the sea bandits carry.

While in the past, pirates would have taken over the ship and looted all valuables, the new tactic is to take the vessel to a neighbouring port and hold it to ransom. The pirates’ job has been made easy by the lack of effective governance in Somalia where the ships are anchored till a price is agreed upon.

“A fine-tuned network has been put in place by the pirates. As soon as news of a hijacking reaches the owners, negotiations are initiated through well-established channels. In many cases, French negotiators are the link between the pirates and the owners,” said a senior naval officer.

Ships are often kept for ransom for several weeks till a price is settled upon—the Japanese Stolt Valor was released after two months of captivity on November 16. Pirates demanded $25 million—the biggest demand for a ship so far—for the Sirius Star crude oil tanker, which has an estimated $100 million worth of oil on board.

Indian Navy takes the lead

While the Indian Navy has been given the mandate to take any steps necessary, including sinking pirate ships if fired upon first, for securing Indian vessels, things get a little murky when it comes to foreign registered ships that have Indian sailors onboard.

“Our mandate is the protection of Indian registered merchant ships. Our warships have been given the role of guiding Indian ships through the waters and responding to distress calls. If time permits, we can also assist ships from other countries. However, we cannot take action when a foreign registered ship with an Indian crew onboard is attacked, unless we are specifically asked for help,” the naval officer said.

As in the case of the Stolt Valor, unless the ship owners and the parent country directly request India for help, the navy cannot move in to protect Indian citizens at sea. In many cases, navy officers say, the owners do not report hijacking attempts to ensure that their insurance premiums stay low. The navy believes that a clearer mandate from the United Nations is required to take on piracy more effectively.

Analysts say that by taking a leading role in the protection of sea trade in the Gulf of Aden, an entry point to the Indian Ocean that the navy considers its personal security responsibility, India has firmed up its image as the main naval power of the region. “The recent operations have shown that we have truly emerged as a blue water navy with the capability of carrying out operations far away from the main land,” said a naval strategist.

While many countries, including the US, UK, Russia and the EU, have deployed protection forces in the region, China, which uses the region as a major trade route for exports, is yet to send in a warship to protect its interests.

The Indian Navy will be sending in more warships to the Gulf of Aden—INS Mysore and a Dornier recon aircraft will soon join INS Tabar—but it has made it clear that a more collaborative effort is needed. India has already raised the point for the need of a joint force under the UN banner to secure the region, given that its size is more than 1 lakh square miles.

Nov 15

Gulf of Aden

Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a chemical tanker and attacked another tanker 450 km south-east of Mogadishu.

Nov 14

Pirates armed with automatic weapons in three small speedboats approached a chemical tanker but couldn’t get on board.

Nov 13

Six pirates in a speedboat approached a bulk carrier. Ship took evasive manoeuvres and crew activated fire hoses. Pirates fired upon the ship with two rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. A coalition warship responded to the distress call and chased away the pirates.

Nov 11

Two speedboats with about four armed pirates each chased Indian ship Jag Arnav. Vessel made manoeuvres and contacted Indian warship INS Tabar. A naval helicopter arrived and the pirates abandoned the attack. The Indian helicopter also rescued a Saudi vessel.

Nov 13

Somalia coast

Pirates armed with automatic weapons and RPG chased and fired on a container ship, starting a fire, but failed to board the ship.

Nov 10

Two speedboats approached a refrigerated cargo ship and the pirates opened fire. Ship made evasive manoeuvres causing waves—the speedboats couldn’t get closer.

PirAcy Hotbeds

While the Malacca Straits and Indonesia were once the primary piracy hotbeds in the world—70 of the 251 attacks in 2004 took place in the region—the Gulf of Aden and Somalia’s coast are now the world’s most dangerous waters.

• 199 incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre this year. Pirates got on board 115 vessels, attacked another 31 and fired upon 23 vessels. About 581 crewmembers were taken hostage, nine kidnapped, nine killed, seven missing.

• 63 incidents reported in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia till September this year. Between July and September, Somali pirates hijacked 26 vessels, taking 537 crew-members hostage. Somali pirates fired upon 21 vessels. Of the 63 reported incidents in the region, 51 were in the Gulf of Aden and 12 off the east coast of Somalia.

• Nigeria is second on the list with 24 reported incidents, at least 20 of which occurred in Lagos.

• Indonesia ranked third in piracy activity with 23 reported incidents. The former hotspot in the Malacca straits has been reduced to just two incidents.