Somali Piracy By Kurt Fowler, Jake Luker, and J.J. Watson

Origins Somalia’s last effective government ended in 1991, and it has been in civil war since. Somalia’s residents are very poor, which is a primary motivation for most pirates. Somalia is located on the Horn of Africa near the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes In 2008, the pirates received an estimated $150 million in ransom money. –The money allows the pirates to upgrade to faster boats and more powerful weapons.

Pirates’ Tactics The pirates track down ships using equipment like GPS devices and tips from contacts at local ports. They are able to catch the larger ships using speedboats. They use grappling hooks and ladders to board the ships. The crews of the hijacked ships are usually given very good care as the pirates wait for ransom money.

How Piracy Affects You Pirates from Somalia are costing the shipping industry millions of dollars. –Ranging from ransom and insurance payments to extra fuel costs because of detours. Costs are passed onto consumers like you. Ships are more reluctant to use the Suez Canal in Egypt because of the pirates. This could cost the country, which is an American ally, billions of dollars. The money from piracy, combined with the instability in the region, helps terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

How Piracy can be Stopped Although many countries have committed naval support to help combat piracy, it is incredibly difficult to patrol the entire region. –The affected area is roughly four times the size of Texas. In order to truly stop the pirates, we need to help bring stability to Somalia. A stable government on land would be able to handle the pirates much more effectively than navies patrolling the sea.

Sources frica/article ece _id=1178 Gettleman, Jeffrey. "21st Century Pirates." Upfront 14 Feb 2009: