Piracy in Somalia is a highly organized,lucrative and ransom driven business. On many ocassions pirates were paid millions of dollars. These juicy payoffs have attracted gunmen from across somalia and the number of pirates are in thousands now. However, Indian navy recently registered a victory in one of the anti-pirate operation in the Gulf of Aden.But is this the solution of the problem? The United States and several european countries,particularly France have been talking about ways to patrol the waters together. The United Nations is even considering something like a maritime peacekeeping force.
This is nothing but piracy by henchmen of Somalia warlords(trying to capture power in Somalia)who are locked in fierce battle on the mainland and who are increasingly using the funds from piracy for their land operations. One of their biggest success was hijacking of Saudi Arabian supertanker "Sirius Star",with its $100 million worth of crude oil.
The question is how all this started?No one expected war hit Somalia to be the centre of such activities. The piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago as a response to illegal fishing. Somalia's central government imploded in 1991,casting the country into chaos. With no patrols along the shoreline,Somalia's Tuna rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world. Somali fishermen then armed themselves and turned into vigilantes by confronting illegal fishing boats and demanding that they pay a tax. By the early 2000s,many of the fishermen had traded in their nets for machine guns and were hijacking any vessel they could catch. This is how piracy originated in Somalia.
Now,point is that where exactly this money of plunder going? One route ofcourse goes towords warlords on the mainland. Another route is KHAT. This money is also been used in trafficking Khat,a mild narcotic leaf that is very popular in the region. Banned in many western countries,khat is a flowering plant that is native to East Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
The immediate problem is that more than 20,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden each year and this has resulted in insurance premiums shooting upto as much as $20,000 for a shipment of cargo.
NATO and U.S says that they cant be everywhere(Obviously,as there is no oil there).They are urging for private security. Mere statements wont do. If this problem is to be solved then a collective effort is required,not just India and France but everyone needs to contribute.
