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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Pirates: Brains, Muscles and Geeks

“They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns,” –Pirate

[ HT Mongoose ]

Somali pirates living the high life: ““No information today. No comment,” a Somali pirate shouts over the sound of breaking waves, before abruptly ending the satellite telephone call.

Garowe resident Abdi Farah Juha. He sounds uptight - anxious to see if a multi-million dollar ransom demand will be met.

He is on board the hijacked Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina - the ship laden with 33 Russian battle tanks that has highlighted the problem of piracy off the Somali coast since it was captured almost a month ago.

But who are these modern-day pirates?

According to residents in the Somali region of Puntland where most of the pirates come from, they live a lavish life.

“They have money; they have power and they are getting stronger by the day,” says Abdi Farah Juha who lives in the regional capital, Garowe.

The crew on MV Faina are reportedly being well-looked after

“They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns,” he says.

“Piracy in many ways is socially acceptable. They have become fashionable.”

Most of them are aged between 20 and 35 years - in it for the money.

And the rewards they receive are rich in a country where almost half the population need food aid after 17 years of non-stop conflict.

Most vessels captured in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden fetch on average a ransom of $2m.

This is why their hostages are well looked after.

The BBC's reporter in Puntland, Ahmed Mohamed Ali, says it also explains the tight operation the pirates run.

They are never seen fighting because the promise of money keeps them together.

Wounded pirates are seldom seen and our reporter says he has never heard of residents along Puntland's coast finding a body washed ashore.

Given Somalia's history of clan warfare, this is quite a feat.

It probably explains why a report of a deadly shoot-out amongst the pirates onboard the MV Faina was denied by the vessel's hijackers.

Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali told the BBC Somali Service at the time: “Everybody is happy. We were firing guns to celebrate Eid.”

The MV Faina was initially attacked by a gang of 62 men.

BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed says such pirate gangs are usually made up of three different types:

Ex-fishermen, who are considered the brains of the operation because they know the sea. Ex-militiamen, who are considered the muscle - having fought for various Somali clan warlords The technical experts, who are the computer geeks and know how to operate the hi-tech equipment needed to operate as a pirate - satellite phones, GPS and military hardware. The three groups share the ever-increasing illicit profits - ransoms paid in cash by the shipping companies.

A report by UK think-tank Chatham House says piracy off the coast of Somalia has cost up to $30m (£17m) in ransoms so far this year.

The study also notes that the pirates are becoming more aggressive and assertive - something the initial $22m ransom demanded for MV Faina proves. The asking price has apparently since fallen to $8m.

Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, is reportedly where the pirates get most of their weapons from.

A significant number are also bought directly from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Observers say Mogadishu weapon dealers receive deposits for orders via a “hawala” company - an informal money transfer system based on honour.

Militiamen then drive the arms north to the pirates in Puntland, where they are paid the balance on delivery.

It has been reported in the past that wealthy businessmen in Dubai were financing the pirates.

But the BBC's Somali Service says these days it is the businessmen asking the pirates for loans.

Such success is a great attraction for Puntland's youngsters, who have little hope of alternative careers in the war-torn country.

Once a pirate makes his fortune, he tends to take on a second and third wife - often very young women from poor nomadic clans, who are renowned for their beauty.

But not everyone is smitten by Somalia's new elite.

“This piracy has a negative impact on several aspects of our life in Garowe,” resident Mohamed Hassan laments.

He cites an escalating lack of security because “hundreds of armed men” are coming to join the pirates.

They don't call themselves pirates. They call themselves coastguards

They have made life more expensive for ordinary people because they “pump huge amounts of US dollars” into the local economy which results in fluctuations in the exchange rate, he says.

Their lifestyle also makes some unhappy.

“They promote the use of drugs - chewing khat [a stimulant which keeps one alert] and smoking hashish - and alcohol,” Mr Hassan says.

The trappings of success may be new, but piracy has been a problem in Somali waters for at least 10 years - when Somali fishermen began losing their livelihoods.

Their traditional fishing methods were no match for the illegal trawlers that were raiding their waters.

Piracy initially started along Somalia's southern coast but began shifting north in 2007 - and as a result, the pirate gangs in the Gulf of Aden are now multi-clan operations.

But Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed says, they do not see themselves as pirates.

“Illegal fishing is the root cause of the piracy problem,” he says.

“They call themselves coastguards.””

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ben man, with like $60k down, we could buy a little jet boat, couple weapons.

We could be pirates!

Aiiiyyy, there stumpy Bennie... shall we go a piiiiirating? Arrgh.

Anonymous said...

I like Pirates! Arrrrrgh.

Anonymous said...

Aye! If they scuttle the ship, it will give a new meaning to the term "bailout".

I'm just waiting for the sudis to call the US and say "hey, protect our ships with some of those big guns you have, and we'll pay you in oil". Oh wait...been there..done that.

Free market capitalism...Somalia Style!

Nick von Mises said...

Serious question.

With the Baltic Dry Index well down, massive overcapacity in shipping, and tumbling commodities what's the likelihood of:

1) Owners deliberately letting the pirates take the ships then claiming the insurance

2) Banks becoming even MORE wary of letters of credit

3) The importer deciding he can exit that contract to buy grain at last week's price by placing a phone call to Somalia

Anonymous said...

When Norwegian Cruiseship Seaborn Spirit where attacked off the coast of Somalia in 2005, they repelled the attack using an LRAD - Lon Range Acoustic Device. Gives a targeted sonic blast of 150 db on a range of 50 m. That will make you more than deaf, and requires no license.

So, IF they cared about protection, it's absolutely possible...

gamingthemarket said...

Nick you devious mind you. Makes me wonder what the retainer is for a 62 man pirate crew?

Looks like piracy is breaking a 4yr trend line [this is a joke]: http://www.google.com/trends?q=piracy&ctab=339648256&geo=all&date=all

International Piracy was actually declining until recently. It's shifting from SE Asia to African waters.

George said...

I wouldn't razz him about his fly.

I would, however, alert him that crude is headed below $20 next year, to the level it reached in 2002, so he'd be wise to remember where he's buried his treasure, once this gig is up.

Anonymous said...

crude heading below $20? surley you jest. is this based on technical charts?

Anonymous said...

Those Somalis got their priorities straight:

No scummy central government to tax the life out of you and tell you what to do,

Definitely Somalis have the right to bear (and use) arms freely,

True Viking-style Democracy: if "The Man" gets uptight one pops a cap in his ass,

Finally, piracy is just damn more exciting (and financially rewarding) than the array of shitty McJobs that 90% of the western population must put up with!

I say Go Pirates!

Anonymous said...

@Nick von Mises:

1) Owners deliberately letting the pirates take the ships then claiming the insurance


This happens ALL the time!!

My wife's brother & her father were both sailors on small coasters, so they got stories:

Say one happens to have a deck-cargo of a few shipping containers full of "Machine Parts" or "Scrap Metal" from, say, former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Poland or the former Czechoslovakia bound for perhaps Sudan, Syria, Iran or South Africa (in the 1980's).

This kind of cargo may spell trouble with customs so what one does is to obtain an end user certificate with a legitimate buyer; perhaps Iraq, Israel, Turkey e.t.c. a nation where the embassy are open for business.

Along the way one will anchor the ship some place off the coast of west Africa, the crew is sent below deck, and ... suddently ... pirates rob the ship stealing JUST the relevant containers!

The loss is of course reported to the insurance company and some poor sap who sits at the end of Lloyd's insurance spiral suddenly takes a hit.

Pirates are the FedEx of Afrika!!

PS:
If one sees a shipwreck on the single rock within 2000 square miles of open sea it will be a Greek.

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