Anti-piracy measures in Somalia

R. Marchal argues that antipiracy efforts will not eliminate piracy, but lead only to more violent and costly forms, creating a deadly trap similar to the American "War on Drugs."

Given the extreme monetary cost of military and private protections for vessels and their low effectiveness, inventing new ways to keep pirates off ships by force will only continue the cycle of piracy without solving the root cause and addressing the need for law enforcement in the first place.

Without institutional protection or support from the international community, some fishers formed groups who “targeted foreign fishing vessels and commercial traffic” to steal equipment and other items if the opportunity arose.

Claus Bindslev, a Danish entrepreneur, started Fairfishing in 2011 after noticing the drop-off of fishing since 1989, when exports of fishery products earned Somalia $15 million prior to the civil war.

Additionally, building fishing infrastructure without addressing the IUU vessels means the same resentments may resurface, leading to vigilante action from fishers to protect their livelihood, which could evolve into piracy once again.

Nine other EU Member States have participated by providing military staff or onboard units: Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ireland and Finland.

[22] That same year, Bulgaria also announced plans to join the antipiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and protect Bulgarian shipping, by sending a frigate with a crew of 130 sailors.

EU NAVFOR operates in a zone comprising the south of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the western part of the Indian Ocean including the Seychelles, which represents an area of 2 million square nautical miles.

The Danish Institute for Military Studies proposed the establishment of a regionally based maritime unit, the "Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol", to carry out surveillance in the area to secure free navigation and take on tasks such as fishery inspection and environmental monitoring.

Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia have all sent ships, surveillance aircraft or personnel to the region, sometimes joining with the existing CTFs, sometimes operating independently.

[citation needed] On 28 January 2009, Japan announced its intention of sending a naval task force to join international efforts to stop piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Somalia also added India to its list of states, including the U.S. and France, which are permitted to enter its territorial waters, extending up to 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) from the coastline, in an effort to check piracy.

[53] Brian Murphy (Associated Press) reported on 8 January 2009 that Rear Admiral Terence E. McKnight, U.S. Navy, is to command a new multi-national naval force to confront piracy off the coast of Somalia.

[63] In April 2011, the Portuguese Air Force contributed to Operation Ocean Shield by sending a P-3C[64] which had early success when on its fifth mission detected a pirate whaler with two attack skiffs.

In February 2010, Danish special forces from the Absalon freed 25 people from the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel Ariella after it was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast.

Godfrey Matata Onyango, executive secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority said, "We cannot ignore to discuss the piracy menace because it poses a huge challenge to the maritime industry and if not controlled, it threats to chop off the regional internal trade.

6 April 2013 August 2013 Between 2009 and 2010, the government of the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia enacted a number of reforms and pre-emptive measures as a part of its officially declared anti-piracy campaign.

[128][136][137] The government of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia,[138] has adopted stringent anti-piracy measures, arresting and imprisoning pirates forced to make port in Berbera.

In one notable incident, ICU forces would storm a hijacked United Arab Emirates registered ship, and recaptured it after a battle with the pirates aboard the vessel.

[143] In June 2008, following a letter from the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to the President of the UN Security Council requesting assistance for the TFG's efforts to tackle acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution authorizing nations that have the consent of the Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters to deal with pirates.

[145] The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on 20 November 2008, that was proposed by Britain to introduce tougher sanctions against Somalia over the country's failure to prevent a surge in sea piracy.

US Alternate Representative for Security Council Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that the draft resolution "calls on the secretary-general to look at a long-term solution to escorting the safe passage of World Food Programme ships.

"[147] Even Somalia's Islamist militants stormed the Somali port of Harardheere in the hunt for pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker, the MV Sirius Star.

"[148] On 16 December 2008, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a tougher resolution, allowing for the first time international land and sea occupations in the pursuit of pirates.

The debate, which was the first held by the Security Council about this subject, was called by Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri and heard more than 40 speakers from different countries and international organizations.

[162] As of 21 May 2012, Nick Maroukis of Triton Risk MSS states that not a single vessel with armed privately contracted maritime security contractors has been successfully hijacked by the pirates.

[163] Pirates have steadily ventured further across the Lloyd's Joint War Committee (JWC) designated Piracy High Risk Area (HRA) to evade naval patrols and search for easier targets.

This prospective court would be subject to Somali law and function, but would be based outside Somalia due to the conflict that was then taking place in the southern part of the country.

Following the framework of an earlier agreement signed between the Transitional Federal Government and the Seychelles, the memorandum called for the transfer of convicted pirates to prison facilities in Puntland and Somaliland.

[178] They had been found guilty of attempted kidnapping for extortion and illegal possession of firearms, in connection with 10 October 2011 attack and seizure of an Italian-owned cargo vessel, the Montecristo.