Modern Day Pirates

Image via Wikipedia

Somali pirates recently attacked and boarded the wrong ship!

In the past, pirates would board a ship and relieve it of its gold, silver and anything else of value that it was carrying.

Today, the pickings have increased as ships no longer carry only gold and silver.

With technological improvements in shipbuilding, pirates can now make off with cash, manufactured goods, vehicles, machinery, bagged goods and food products.

Modern day pirates are kept at bay mainly through the combined efforts of their targets because most attacks take place in areas where no one particular country has special jurisdiction. Modern ships, like modern pirates, are sometimes heavily armed with grenades, machine guns and assault rifles.

Most of the piracy occurs in the waters of Indonesia which claims an average of 25 to 30 percent of pirate attacks each year. In 2009, this equaled 19 attacks from January to March alone.

Somalia is a close second.

Modern day pirates don’t only attack cargo ships for goods and cash. They also attack cruise ships and ships carrying relief aid.

In April 2009, Somali pirates attacked and then freed an aid ship they had captured off the Gulf of Aden. This was only after two Dubai based Somali business men had given them a “gift” of $100,000.

The situation off the coast of Somalia began when Somali fishermen had to defend their water from foreign ships that took advantage of Somalia’s civil war and started dumping waste and fishing illegally in Somali waters.

Pirates don’t limit themselves to preying on big ships. Even small fishermen are at risk and sometimes have to venture out to sea armed to protect themselves and their livelihood.

There were 16 deaths due to piracy in 2003. These are the deaths which are known. Sometimes ships and their passengers disappear.

Since the beginning of 2009, there are 63 people or more, who have been taken hostage.

Many of these people are only freed after a hefty ransom is paid.

The country most feared by the pirates is France.

The French have a reputation at sea for vigorously defending their property and their defense ministry always acts quickly whenever assaults occur. That’s why the incident that occurred on early October, in which Somali pirates boarded a French warship in the middle of the night, was such a huge gaffe!

The French crew captured the pirates. Several other pirates were captured in a similar manner in May.

NATO often has to release pirates that have been detained because it has no jurisdiction to conduct arrests in some areas.