Mid-Week Round-Up

Phenomenally eventful two weeks, in which Somali pirates seized eight vessels. The latest on the big stories:

1) India’s Navy sunk a recently captured Thai fishing trawler, not a pirate “mother ship”

(Photo: Indian Defense Ministry, via Reuters)

The Times of India reports that Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, owner of Ekawat Nava 5, claims that the Thai fishing trawler sunk by the Indian Navy’s INS Tabor in the Gulf of Aden on Nov.18 was being seized by pirates when sunk by the 400-foot naval vessel. Mr. Sirichaiekawat’s information comes from a Cambodian crewman, found alive by passing fishermen after four days adrift, and is currently recuperating in a Yemen hospital. The AP reports that a Thai crewman is was killed during the Tabor’s attack and fourteen remain missing.

The AP quotes Indian navy spokesman Commander Nirad Sinha on Wednesday conceding that it was possible the ship was hijacked, but defended the INS Tabar's action responding to pirates' threat to attack her and that "In so far as we are concerned, both its description and its intent were that of a pirate ship. Only after we were fired upon did we fire. We fired in self defense. There were gun-toting guys with RPGs on it”. Indian Navy sources argue that the owner’s claim is an attempt to recover insurance money for the ship. This statement leaves open the possibility that the ship had not been used to launch attacks on other ships.

2) “Sirius Star” Drama Unfolding Slowly

Four times larger than any ship previously captured by Somali pirates and carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil worth $110 million, the Sirius Star continues to make big waves since being seized on Nov. 15, about 420 nautical miles off Somalia.

On Monday, Nov. 24, The Guardian reported that the initial $25 million ransom has been reduced to $15 million. The supertanker, belonging to Vela International Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Aramco has been moved further from shore after al-Shabab, the Islamist group leading Somali’s insurgency, vowed to fight the pirates because the Sirius Star is Muslim-owned. Bloomberg (in a wide-ranging piracy article) quotes Sheikh Abdulaahi Osman, a commander of al-Shabaab, stated that “Saudi is a Muslim country and it is a very big crime to hold Muslim property”. The Islamic Courts’ Union, which briefly ruled most of Somalia in 2006, also threatened the pirates.

AFP’s “Tension mounts in Somali pirate lair as ransom clock ticks” is easily the most entertaining article about Somali Islamists versus Somali pirates. Pirate spokesman Mohamed Said addresses both al-Shabaab and the Saudis, telling AFP that “We are the Shebab of the sea and we can't be scared by the Shebab of the land” and "Every Somali has great respect for the holy kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We have nothing against them but unfortunately what happened was just business for us and I hope the Saudis will understand,"

3) Butcher’s Bill

At present, warships from Denmark, India, Malaysia, Russia, the U.S. and NATO patrol a vast international maritime corridor, escorting some merchant ships and responding to distress calls in the area.

The AP’s current tally: At least 96 pirate attacks in Somali waters in 2008, with 39 or 40 of these ships hijacked (AP articles are inconsistent on this point) and “fifteen of these ships, along with nearly 300 crew, are still in the hands of Somali pirates.” A United Nations report released Tuesday estimates that $25 million to $30 million has been paid in ransom to Somali pirates this year. Bloomberg tallies “at least 91 vessels have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden, an area almost twice the size of Alaska, flanked by Yemen and Somalia” and the International Maritime Bureau counts 581 crew members taken hostage worldwide from January to September, compared with 172 during the same period in 2007.

4) Other Articles

- Spain sends a frigate, Pakistan offers help contingent on UN mandate, the Moscow Times calls the Gulf of Aden “a maritime version of Chechnya”, Greek-owned chemical tanker MV Genius, which was seized in September, was released with its 19 crew after the owners paid a ransom, and Yemeni cargo ship MV Amani hijacked in Gulf of Aden.

- James Lyons, retired U.S. Navy admiral, makes suggestions in the Washington Times.

- Dennis Sampson and Nikolas Gvosdev of the U.S. Naval War College point to the success of the Maritime Organization for West and Central Africa in curtailing crime in the Gulf of Guinea as a model for East Africa in the IHT.

- Business Week covers the drop in the Baltic Dry Index, AFP covers shipowners choosing to spend the extra $500,000 it costs to round the Cape of Good Hope instead of risking hijacking in the Gulf of Aden and the Financial Times covers how ships avoiding the Suez canal is potentially devastating to Egypt: “The international waterway is critical to the Egyptian economy and in the last fiscal year it earned a record $5.2bn (€3.9bn), making it the nation's third highest source of foreign currency revenues behind tourism and remittances”. The canal already faces a projected 10% reduction in traffic as result of the global economic crisis. Reuters reports that “the canal made $467.5 million in October, down from $504.5 million in August when a record 1,993 ships used the canal."

5) Article Countdown

We’re looking for the first publication to use Djibouti as a platform to address NATO anti-piracy activity (French and US bases), how enmity between the three states which surround Djibouti (Ethiopia, Eretria & Somalia) have compounded Somali’s turmoil, and how a small entity like Djibouti is both impacted by piracy and a global economic slowdown, and how any economic turmoil in Djibouti impacts others (such as Dubai, whose government-owned DP World operates the Port of Djibouti).