Who knew that pirates had spokespersons?
The New York Times follows up on the Somali pirate-jacking (pijacking?) of an arms ship bound for Kenya:
He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” he said. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.”
Very clever. Ridiculous, but clever.
Mr. Sugule said that his men are treating the crew members well (the pirates would not let the crew members speak on the phone, saying it was against their rules). “Killing is not in our plans,” he said. “We only want money, so we can protect ourselves from hunger.”
When asked why the pirates needed $20 million to protect themselves from hunger, Mr. Sugule laughed over the phone and said: “Because we have a lot of men.”
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Ships carrying aid cargo to Somalia have been plagued with piracy since a while. As they have to pull into port or offload on beaches, they can not stay offshore far enough to be out of the reach of the pirates,…
here is a transcript of gettleman’s interview – Q. & A. With a Pirate: “We Just Want the Moneyâ€Â
and there are a couple of quotes here from mwangura relevant to the accusations i brought up in my previous comment
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of President Abdullahi Yusuf, which is packed with former warlords, exercises little authority and claims to be unable to stop the piracy. But it is perhaps telling that during the six-month reign of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts over much of south and central Somalia in 2006, attacks on passing ships all but stopped.
Andrew Mwangura, head of the Mombasa-based Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, and one of the foremost experts on Somali piracy, says there are five main pirate groups operating, sometimes together.
‘Most of them are linked to warlords,’ he said. ‘And the warlords are linked to the TFG, all the way to the top.’
…
A gunman on a pirate ship typically earns between $10,000 and $30,000 for a year’s work – a fortune in Somalia. Those bankrolling the attacks from bases in the United Arab Emirates or Kenya, and sometimes as far afield as Canada, London or Hong Kong, can net several million dollars from a single strike, depending on the nationality of the shipowner, the origins and gender of the crew, the cargo and the age of the boat.
…
..bizarre as it sounds, there is some truth in the pirates’ claim that they are acting as a coastguard. Under international law, a country’s ‘exclusive economic zone’ – where it has sole rights over marine and mineral resources – extends 200 nautical miles out to sea. Foreign ships are allowed to pass through these waters, but not to fish without a permit.
Yet at any one time there are up to 500 foreign-registered boats fishing in Somalia’s rich waters, according to the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme. European boats catch tuna or shrimp; vessels from the Far East catch sharks for their fins. Almost all are fishing illegally. Often, pirate attacks are not even reported to maritime authorities: the ransoms paid are regarded as legitimate fines, both by the pirates and the ship-owners.
‘One way to stop the piracy is to stop the illegal fishing,’ said Mwangura. ‘That way there will be nowhere for the pirates to hide.’
a google search will turn up plenty of material on illegal dumping off the coast
for instance, UN envoy decries illegal fishing, waste dumping off Somalia
What’s wrong with shipjack? Or maybe we should start calling carjackers carpirates?
not sure why chris would think that is a ridiculous stmt. read up on the somali coast guard, the national volunteer coast guard, the well-publicized problem of toxic waste dumping in somali waters, the illegal fishing, etc… these issues still persist.
yes, some of the 'pirate' groups — esp those out of puntland (yusuf's clan and so on) or those operating out of the port at mogadishu (where AMISOM has one of its bases after the TFG took that port back from a private businessman post-invasion) — are strictly in it for the $$$, and ran by well-connected networks outta europe, according to credible experts like andrew mwangura @ SAP
the TFG & puntland govts are allegedly profiting off of such operations, in addition to other illicit means of gathering wealth – there is no economy in somalia proper, so to speak, of which to tax for national coffers. so they rely on money from foreign sources, weapons deals, looting, protection rackets, controlling business at the ports, counterfeiting, rents from mineral exploration/extraction deals, etc…
but there is still the problem w/ foreign fishermen depleting the stocks that somalis depend upon, still reports of chemical tankers & the like dumping off the coast, and so on. all good reasons for defending the coasts, i'd say.
I hate to come off as a bleeding heart/libertarian, but what about morals/property rights?
The issue them with contracts and appoint someone to oversee them, just like other modern day mercenaries/ military contractors, be a heck of a lot easier/cost effective than disarming them by force.
Something about a monopoly on the legitimate use of force comes to mind…
I mean, Somalia does not have a government that can control its coastlines, or extract taxes. In a way, perhaps we can thank the market for their entrepreneurialism in filling a niche where no state exists.
I personally believe that rather than make these pirates illegal, legalize them, tax them, provide a bit of a regulatory framework, some training in effect turn them into privateers or an embryonic Somali navy.
:-)
Much more interesting is the report that these weapons could be headed to South Sudan, I’d be interested to hear what the Sudanese are saying about that.