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Your online source for information related to piracy in Somalia. Use the menu bar to the left to navigate to the various sections of this site. Somalia Pirates assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the third party news reports on this site.

Somali Pirate

The issue of piracy off the coast of Somalia is a complicated one. Many factors have contributed to the rise of piracy in the region, read about them by clicking the "History" button on the left. If you would like to discuss the issue with others, please visit our Somalia Pirates discussion forum.

 

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Somalia Piracy News
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  • EU naval force attackes Somali pirate base 18 May 2012 10:06 GMT Digital Journal

    … pirate base near the central Somali coastal town of Hardhere, a known pirate … on standby for pirate actions. Defenceweb reports the pirates have threatened hostages if the attack is repeated. A pirate … a fundamental shift in combating piracy” by attacking their bases. Based …

  • India, UAE to work together to counter piracy 18 May 2012 16:05 GMT Sify.com

    … could wean the Somali youths away from piracy. 'Resolving piracy will not come unless we resolve Somalia...it is very important in these times we face piracy … Somalia and the African Union is key,' he added. Somali pirates are …

  • Somali fishermen beg end to anti-piracy strikes 18 May 2012 10:51 GMT Malay Mail Online

    … , 2012 - 16:36 MOGADISHU: Somali fisherman pleaded Friday for international … attacks aimed to damage pirate operations. "The pirates cannot be easily … international naval force patrolling the pirate-infested Indian Ocean waters have struck …

  • IMO takes strategic moves to tackle piracy 18 May 2012 10:11 GMT China Economic Net

    … air units on pirate assets on the coast of Somalia, an action … targets for pirates operating from the long coast of Somalia. The pirates have taken advantage of the lack of power of previous Somali authorities. In 2011 pirate attacks reached a …

  • SaveOurSeafarers Organization Lauds EU Air Strike on Somali Pirate Bases 17 May 2012 13:42 GMT Insurancejournal.com

    … destroy pirate equipment on the Somali coastline. This disruptive action against known pirate supply bases on the shore will disrupt Somali pirates’ efforts … affected area.” Evitt stressed that Somali piracy is “a real and present … are currently held hostage by Somali pirates. Unpalatable as it may seem …

  • Indian Ocean piracy impacting on the real economy 18 May 2012 00:56 GMT Engineering News

    … (SAN) came in early April. Somali-based pirates launched an unsuccess- ful attack … by Somali pirates. The global figure was 35. During last September, Somali pirates held … passed ten resolutions specifically on Somali piracy. UNSC 1816 (2008) was the …

  • Destruction of base shifts EU’s battle with Somali pirates from sea to land 17 May 2012 09:34 GMT The Globe and Mail

    … the high seas for years, Somali pirates are facing a counter-attack on … Union forces raided a pirate base near the Somali port of Haradheere … at the pirate skiffs and other equipment at the pirate base. “The … 3,000 to 5,000 pirates in Somalia and in hijacked “motherships …

  • Singapore shippers welcome EU strike on Somali pirates 17 May 2012 09:46 GMT Peninsula Qatar

    … foreign strike against a pirate stronghold in Somalia and urged that the … causes of the piracy problem on land in Somalia,” he said in … a stockpile of pirate skiffs on a beach in Somalia’s central … ,000 seafarers taken hostage by pirates off Somalia, in the Gulf of …

  • Royal Navy attack Somali pirates 17 May 2012 09:41 GMT Portsmouth Today

  • War On Somali Piracy Needs Rules, And Impregnable Citadels 17 May 2012 23:02 GMT Investors.com

    … topic is piracy, not just off the coast of Somalia — where there … attack on a pirate supply line on the Somali coast on Tuesday … . That may account for the Somali pirates' decreasing effectiveness. While the … a needed framework on anti- piracy measures. The Baltic and International …

  • War-torn Somalia stages TEDx conference 17 May 2012 21:15 GMT France 24

    … birthplace Mogadishu to open First Somali Bank earlier this week, the … , but there is hope in Somalia, and international investors are exploring … ; Egal added. Fighting erupted in Somalia in the late 1980s, escalating … by warlords, extremist militia and pirates ruling vast regions.

  • Pirate guards need global guidelines - U.N. agency 17 May 2012 19:43 GMT Reuters

    … ships to repel attacks by pirates should be subject to new … on private guards to deter pirates armed with machine guns and … failed to stop attacks by Somali pirates, prompting ship owners to look … position if they kill suspected pirates.   Continued...

  • Bahamas cautions IMO in dealing with maritime pirates 17 May 2012 20:01 GMT The Freeport News

    … incapacity of Somalia to prevent and deal effectively with pirates has resulted in a homegrown piracy industry, which has expanded away from the Coast of Somalia … to protect shipping and apprehend pirates. But it is common knowledge …

  • Pirate guards need global guidelines: U.N. agency 17 May 2012 19:26 GMT Hartford Courant

    … failed to stop attacks by Somali pirates, prompting ship owners to look … fishermen they suspected of being pirates. India detained the marines, prompting … underlined earlier this month when Somali pirates hijacked a Greek-owned oil tanker … helicopter gunships attacked a pirate base on the Somali coast, destroying five …

  • Somaliland military court sentences 17 civilians to death 17 May 2012 18:50 GMT GlobalPost

    … , the capital of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland, has sentenced 17 … the BBC’s Somali Service. More from GlobalPost: Somali pirates' rise linked … former British colony, Somaliland broke away from Somalia and declared independence in …

  • Farquharson makes piracy plea at conference 17 May 2012 18:21 GMT The Nassau Guardian

    … extraordinary situation,” he said. Maritime piracy has been a threat to … incapacity of Somalia to prevent and deal effectively with pirates has resulted in a homegrown piracy industry, which has expanded from the coast of Somalia to …

  • Compensation Agreed for Pirate Victims 17 May 2012 16:31 GMT AllAfrica.com

    … ", a vessel seized by Somali pirates in the Mozambique Channel in … and psychological traumas involved. The pirates seized the "Vega 5 … taken to Somalia where it was turned into a pirate mother ship … ;Vega 5" caught fire, pirates and crew alike jumped into …

  • Help Somalia combat piracy 16 May 2012 17:11 GMT Gulf News

    … first EU land action against Somali pirates was a welcome development as … first time to attack pirate bases on the Somali coast, which has become a safe haven where the pirates can auction their hostages and sell off their booty. Somalia …

  • Foreign force strikes Somali pirate base 16 May 2012 12:30 GMT DAILY NATION

    … swooped over the Somali coast to strike at a pirate stronghold. In … a stockpile of pirate skiffs on a beach in Somalia’s central … European Union warships have battled pirates at sea since 2008, but … , highlighting the challenge to stop pirates using small fast skiffs, grappling …

  • EU Naval forces launch aerial attacks on Somali pirates - boats and dinghies sunk 16 May 2012 11:41 GMT allvoices.com

    … the ground bases of the Somali pirates as reported in skynews dated … of the hostages after the pirates strike, the EU-NAVFOR has gone … paralyze the movement of the pirates by destroying their boats and … to tackle the menace of Somali pirates.

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Piracy off the Somali coast has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War in the early 21 century.[1] Since 2005, many international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.[2] Piracy has contributed to an increase in shipping costs and impeded the delivery of food aid shipments. Ninety percent of the World Food Programme's shipments arrive by sea, and ships have required a military escort.[3] According to the Kenyan foreign minister, Somali pirates have received over US$150 million in ransom during the 12 months prior to November 2008.[4] Clashes have been reported between Somalia's Islamist fighters (who are opposed to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG)) and the pirates.[5] In August 2008, Combined Task Force 150, a multinational coalition task force, took on the role of fighting Somali piracy by establishing a Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) within the Gulf of Aden.[6] The increasing threat posed by piracy also caused significant concerns in India since most of its shipping trade routes pass through the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Navy responded to these concerns by deploying a warship in the region on October 23, 2008.[7][8] In September 2008, Russia announced that it too will soon join international efforts to combat piracy.[9] On October 5, 2008, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1838[10] calling on nations with vessels in the area to apply military force to repress the acts of piracy.[11] At the 101st council of the International Maritime Organization, India called for a United Nations peacekeeping force under unified command to tackle piracy off Somalia.[12] (There has been a general and complete arms embargo against Somalia since 1992.) In November 2008, Somali pirates began hijacking ships well outside the Gulf of Aden, perhaps targeting ships headed for the port of Mombasa, Kenya.[13] The frequency and sophistication of the attacks also increased around this time, as did the size of vessels being targeted. Large cargo ships, oil and chemical tankers on international voyages became the new targets of choice for the Somali hijackers. This is in stark contrast to the pirate attacks which were once frequent in the Strait of Malacca, another strategically important waterway for international trade, which were according to maritime security expert Catherine Zara Raymond, generally directed against “smaller , more vulnerable vessels carrying trade across the Straits or employed in the coastal trade on either side of the Straits.”[14] In April 2010, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) alluded to possible covert and overt action against the pirates. CIA officials had been publicly warning of this potential threat for months. In a Harpers Magazine article, a CIA official said, "We need to deal with this problem from the beach side, in concert with the ocean side, but we don't have an embassy in Somalia and limited, ineffective intelligence operations. We need to work in Somalia and in Lebanon, where a lot of the ransom money has changed hands. But our operations in Lebanon are a joke, and we have no presence at all in Somalia."