Somali pirates hijack the New Year…

..Sort of!  Pirates around the Gulf of Aden rang in the New Year by hijacking a total of four ships this week, according to CNN.

Pirates off Somalia have hijacked two more vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the European Union naval force said Saturday — the third and fourth vessels they have captured this week.The British-flagged Asian Glory was seized off Somalia late Friday, the naval force said. The nationality of the pirates was unclear, because the hijacking happened outside of the force’s operations area, it said.

Fighting back against pirates

Military.com: posted CNN video of security companies and new defense mechanisms set to aggressively combat pirates.

3.5 million paid to Somali hijackers of Spanish ship

Al Jazeera reports that pirates have freed a Spanish ship hijacked six weeks ago in the Indian ocean, allegedly in exchange for 3.5 million dollars.

On a related note: the Nigerian News Service on why nations should not negotiate with hijackers and kidnappers.

Somali Islamists a threat to westerners in Kenya

Earlier this year I did some pieces on the Somali pirates who hijacked the Saudi-owned Sirius Star and the Shabab Islamists who pursued them, ostensibly to punish them for attacking a Muslim company, in reality to demand a share of the loot.

Now it seems that the Shabab have migrated to Kenya and are posing a threat to westerners there. Click here for story.

Somali pirates and Islam: natural allies?

Last year, we saw one major wave of Somali pirate attacks on tankers and other ships traversing the region.  In December, analysts were warning that, in its weakened state, Somalia may become a new safe haven for militant jihadis as well as pirates and other international criminals.

Around that same time, in a particularly ironic move the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab  “vowed” to hunt down and attack the pirates who hijacked a Muslim-owned Saudi oil tanker.

However, analysts have posited the idea that in fact the al-Shabaab extremists are in collusion with the pirates and have sought to take a share of any ransom gained. 

Now, UPI writer Claude Salhani suggests that Somali pirates are natural allies of radical Islam:

U.S. Navy warships supported by helicopter gunships tracked four Somali pirates and their American captive in the Horn of Africa throughout the weekend as American negotiators tried to obtain the release of the hostage.

Local militias, many of them adherents of strict Islamist theology, offer a fertile breeding ground to al-Qaida and its affiliates. If and when the day Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida begin to feel the pressure in their current safe haven, the region around the Horn of Africa will look very enticing.

China sentences top members of counterfeiting gangs

 

At the end of 2008, China exercised its newly-strengthened piracy laws and sentenced the top ringleaders of a major counterfeiting gang “that sold at least $2 billion worth of bogus Microsoft software.” The government sentenced them to prison terms of up to 6 1/2 years.

 

Click here for full story.

 

China to send warships after pirates….

Via CNN.com, here:

Two Chinese destroyers and a supply ship will set sail for the Gulf of Aden on Friday to protect Chinese merchant ships from an increasing number of pirate attacks in the waters off the coast of Somalia, navy officials said Tuesday.

Two helicopters and special operations forces will also head to the region, the Chinese officials said.

Chinese media reported the plans last week. It will mark the first time that the country’s naval vessels have left Chinese waters in centuries.

I expect a take-no-prisoners attitude towards the pirates from the PRC.  During y2K, recall how as a matter of national pride,  the Chinese government allegedly mandated that their high level airline execs be on board one of China’s commercial airliners and midflight at the stroke of midnight, Jan. 1, 2000. Brutal.

Somali pirates vs. Chinese crew, armed with homemade weapons…

PRI’s The World featured a “Pirates Update,” where anchor Marco Werman “tells of a battle at sea between the crew of a Chinese ship and Somali pirates. The Chinese crew defended itself using homemade weapons.”

Click here to access the online radio broadcast.

Is Somalia a new haven for al Qaeda as well as pirates?

Intelligence analysts warn that, in its weakened state, this lawless, impoverished nation may become a new safe haven for militant jihadists as well as pirates and other international criminals.

ABC News reports that

A group of Islamic militants called al-Shabaab now controls much of southern and central Somalia, and U.S. officials fear that the group, which swears allegiance to Osama bin Laden, is now strong enough to take over the country’s capital, Mogadishu, and defeat the weak, American-backed government there.

It is useful to note that al-Shabaab was the same militant group whose members vowed to hunt and attack the band of pirates who hijacked the Muslim-owned Saudi oil tanker. Analysts have posited the idea that the al-Shabaab extremists had the ulterior motive of forcibly claiming some of whatever ransom the pirates were able to extract from the Saudi owners.

For more information, view my previous posts here.

Track live pirate activity, worldwide…

..with the International Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Crime Services Live Piracy Map, posted at the rhetorican.com website, here.

Pirates negotiate deal over hijacked arms ship

Pirates have negotiated to release the MV Faina, a Ukranian transport ship laden with tanks, tank artillery shells, small arms, and grenade launchers, originally bound for Kenya. The report is unclear whether the pirates are Somali.

The transport ship was hijacked over two months ago off the eastern coast of Africa, presumably around the Gulf of Aden; because of the cargo, U.S. Naval ships have been monitoring the MV Faina to ensure it does not fall into the hands of terrorists.

The pirates have reached a deal with the Ukranian owners of the ship and talks are ongoing as to how to deliver the ransom money.

View story here.

Dial “P” for Pirates: calling the Somali swashbucklers aboard the Sirius Star

Apparently, it works best if you’re a twelve-year old girl and their number is already programmed into your mom’s speed-dial.

Click here for BBC News report.