Sea Pirates Bloody Growth

Last week, the U.N. Security Council voted in favor of a new measure that would allow the U.S. military to engage Somalian sea pirates.

But Somalia is not the only place with piracy outfits this organized. Somalia is a relative latecomer to contemporary sea piracy. Since 2000, southeast Asia has had the most dangerous waters in the world. Malaysia and the islands of the Indonesian archipelago have seen the lion's share of sea piracy since 2000. Also troubling: the waters off Nigeria and Iraq.

Unlike the pirates of yesteryear, contemporary sea piracy is frequently carried out by highly sophisticated criminal organizations made up of seasoned fighters and equipped with speedboats, satellite phones and global positioning systems. Recently captured Somali pirates claim they belonged to an organized militia that engaged in piracy to raise funds. Organizations have started attacking from more than one ship simultaneously using a number of quasi-military tactics.

Violence has become an endemic feature of privacy, particularly over the last five to 10 years. The birth of the illicit global arms trade that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 made it easier for many (who might feel less inclined to pursue piracy if they lacked guns) to become pirates, according to Chalk. The arms trade has made cheap and powerful weapons available in many parts of the world.

Five to six years ago, when pirates attacked, they used machetes, knives and pistols. "Today," says Noel Choong, the current director of the International Maritime Bureau's anti-piracy office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "They come equipped with AK-47s, M-16s, rifle grenades and [rocket-propelled grenades]."

This not only poses an enormous risk in terms of human security, but also endangers maritime security. Attacked ships can be left unmanned, turning into rogue vessels. "In many maritime chokepoints where attacks often occur, this creates a serious risk of a collision," says Chalk.

"The truth is that modern piracy ... is a violent, bloody, ruthless practice," said Captain Jayant Abhyankar, Deputy Director of the International Maritime Bureau at a conference in Singapore, "made the more fearsome by the knowledge on the part of the victims that they are on their own and absolutely defenseless and that no help is waiting just round the corner."

© 2008