Catamaran SV Serenity still held by pirates after four months

by Nancy Knudsen on 12 Jul 2009 It is now more than four months since the sailing catamaran SV Serenity left the Seychelles for Madagascar and was hijacked by Somali pirates soon after with three crew on board.

About two weeks ago seven sailors from the yacht Ocean Explorer also hijacked in March in Seychelles waters were released by Somali pirates after two months in captivity and flown home to the Seychelles, but there's been no word on the fate of the crew of Serenity.

Unlike Ocean Explorer, SY Serenity is understood to be a pure pleasure vessel, without a commercial organisation who is willing to pay a ransom. A ransom of US$450,000 was paid for Ocean Explorer, whose seven crew had just put their paying guests ashore before they were hijacked. However the pirates judged that it was not sufficient, and they set fire to the vessel, destroying it completely, in retribution.

Latest word on the SY Serenity is that it is rafted to another hijacked vessel, the fishing vessel Win Far 161 from Taiwan, which is said to be moored on the coastline between Harardheere and Hobyo. While the crew of 30 on the fishing vessel are being held on their boat, Gilbert Victor and Andre Conrad and another crew member, from SY Serentiy, are being held on land.

Soon after the abduction the sailors called home, saying they were being held by pirates and begging for help.

What can be done:

There have already been many millions of words written about the seriousness and potential solutions to the pirate crisis in the Indian Ocean, but no viable solution seems in sight.

Renowned NGO Ecoterra International reports that in Mogadishu, Hassan Mohamed, an activist of the Peace and Human Rights Network, has said further US armed action against pirates would stir political tensions already inflamed by a two-year Ethiopian occupation that ended only in January. 'The best solution is to support the Somali government so it can act against the pirates. If this is done the pirates can be destroyed,' he said recently by telephone from Mogadishu.

'It’s true that Somalis don’t want these piracy problems: The gangsters who used to make problems for people with their checkpoints on land are now making problems for us out at sea.

'But Americans have not been welcome in Somalia since they supported the Ethiopian invasion. The feeling is that Americans want to destroy us. The feeling is that America doesn’t want Somalia to stand on its own two feet.'

He said the best way for Washington to suppress piracy off Somalia was to help the country achieve stability onshore, where a young interim government headed by a moderate Islamist faces attacks by al Shabaab, an al Qaeda-aligned guerrilla force. Al Shabaab’s main foe until the end of January was an Ethiopian occupation force sent into the country with tacit US approval in 2006 to crush supposed al Qaeda activity. Experts say the pirates are well aware they would trigger painful Western retribution if they allied with al Shabaab.

Revenge culture:
'The pirates know that if they collude with al Qaeda or al-Shabaab that will be a game changer, and they like the game as played just fine,' Somali expert Ken Mankhaus told a web discussion forum hosted by The Washington Post.

Even in the short term, an increased Western military effort against the pirates would do little in practical terms to stop a lucrative ransom trade, analysts say. The seas are just too vast to be patrolled effectively and the incentives for the pirates and the powerful local business interests they serve are just too great.

A Somali academic in Mogadishu said: 'Somalis are not intimidated by American muscle. Revenge culture is prevalent here: These guys will not fade away and say ‘I’m going home’.'

'The American problem has always been ’short-term, quick fix, macho man’. It does not resolve the core issue,' said the expert, who declined to be identified for security reasons. Washington should do more to help the new government extend its rule and counter fears it is in league with regional giant Ethiopia, Somalia’s historic foe, the academic said.
Daring and committed people

'If it does not, then there are many reasons for piracy to continue. Number one, this is a gold rush – death is not a deterrent. And number two, the people involved are not nobodies. There is investment in this by daring and committed people.'

Commander Chris Davies of the NATO Maritime Component Command, a force combating Somalia piracy, said the Western response would be adapted as circumstances dictated but big changes in policy were unlikely. 'Thus far, it’s not political. It’s not fundamentalists. It’s not terrorists. It’s moneymaking,' he said. 'That’s the message we’ve picked up. The pattern has been that hostages have been treated very well. Broadly the worst we’ve seen is the occasional beating.

'You could arm the merchant ships but that has legal problems, and who’s to say the pirates won’t then escalate the situation? They have the money to buy more arms.' He said ships should continue to follow industry guidelines intended to reduce vulnerability: 'Inform the maritime authorities (of the voyage). Use the internationally-recognised (Gulf of Aden) transit corridor. Use speed. Use manoeuvres. Use water cannon to deter attack. Keep a good lookout.'

There are not too many yachts which carry water cannon, but some yachts, even some yacht rallies - eg. the round-world www.bluewaterrallies.com!Blue_Water_Rally, have transited the transit corridor in the Gulf of Aden in 2009 successfully.