Two Pirates from Confused Somalia Killed

by BW Media round-up on 15 Nov 2008 Sailors wanting to make the journey from Asia to the Mediterranean without having to round the Cape of Good Hope are watching the developments in the Gulf of Aden intensely, and much of the news is confusing at best.

As reports flashed round the world that two Somali pirates on a small vessel had been killed, it was also reported that the boat involved was from Yemen. British Navy vessel HMS Cumberland exchanged fire with the boat before boarding the craft. Previous reports suggested that the threat from pirates of Yemeni origin had ceased. Some time ago Yemen increased the coast guard along its shores and sought to cooperate with international efforts to halt piracy in the area, allowing foreign ships to use bases on Yemeni shores as piracy coordinating centres.

'Two foreign nationals, believed to be Somali pirates, were shot and killed in self-defense,' a British Ministry spokesman said. 'A Yemeni national was also found injured and later died, despite receiving emergency treatment from the ship's doctor. It is unclear whether his injuries were as a result of the fire fight or a previous incident involving the pirates.'

There is now a corridor for safe passage through the Gulf of Aden, and yachts brave enough to hazard a transit should consult Noonsite for the latest information. Convoys are recommended, and even ships transiting are forming convoys for the passage.

European Union foreign ministers agreed on 10 November to dispatch five to seven frigates and support aircraft by next month to protect merchant ships and vessels carrying World Food Program (WFP) supplies (No mention of sailors). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has already sent a fleet to protect food shipments to Somalia, with other countries having also sent warships, including Denmark, France, Russia, Japan the UK and the US.

However, reports from inside Somalia suggest that there will be no easy end to the situation until the political and economic situation in the country improves. Despite the activity on the waters, little attention has been paid to the roots of the problem.

The epicentre of the piracy is the port town of Eyl, in the Nugal region in the north of the country. According to the UK's Independent, it is completely off limits to the outside world, a safe haven for the pirates and a base for their attacks. It now functions, according to residents, almost completely on the proceeds from piracy.

While the rest of Somalia has been destroyed by decades of battles between independent warlords, in Eyl the streets are 'awash with Landcruisers, laptops, satellite phones and global positioning systems.'

Almost everyone in Eyl has a relative or husband among the pirates. Fatima Yusuf, who has lived her whole life in Eyl, describes the intense involvement of the whole community in the fortunes of the young men who set out in crews of seven or eight armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers to take on the tankers on the high seas.

Fatima says the people will gather to pray for the pirates and that when they set sail sacrifices are made in traditional ceremonies where 'a goat will be slaughtered, its throat cut.'

An industry has grown up around the pirates, with restaurants to feed the kidnapped crews who as potentially tradable assets must be looked after. The pirates have become glamorous figures. Like most of the girls in Eyl, Sadiya Samatar Haji wants to marry a pirate. 'I'm not taking no for an answer,' she says. 'I'll tie the knot with a pirate man because I'll get to live in a good house with good money.'

Twelve-year-old Mohamed Bishar Adle, in nearby Garowe, the regional capital of Puntland, knows what he wants to do with his education. 'When I finish high school, I will be a pirate man, I will work for my family and will get more money.'

Some of the pirates say they are from families of fishermen whose livelihood was destroyed by the arrival of industrial trawlers from Europe. With a fertile upswelling where the ocean reaches Africa's Horn, the seas are rich in tuna, swordfish and shark, as well as coastal beds of lobster and valuable shrimp. Now, they say, the fish stocks are low, and stocks of a local fish known as 'yumbi' have all but disappeared.