Pirates Continue Attacks On Shipping Off Somalia

The pirates continue to act as though they own the seas. They continue to attack shipping, including a US cruise ship, the M/S Nautica, which was sailing on a 32-day cruise with destinations in Asia, Africa and Europe.

The liner, carrying 656 international passengers and 399 crew members, was sailing through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden on Sunday when it encountered six bandits in two speedboats, said Noel Choong who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

The pirates fired at the passenger liner but the larger boat was faster than the pirates' vessels, Choong said.

"It is very fortunate that the liner managed to escape," he said, urging all ships to remain vigilant in the area.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it was aware of the failed hijacking but did not have further details.

Ship owner Oceania Cruises Inc. identified the vessel as the M/S Nautica.

In a statement on its Web site, the company said pirates fired eight rifle shots at the liner, but that the ship's captain increased speed and managed to outrun the skiffs.

All passengers and crew are safe and there was no damage to the vessel, it said.

The Nautica was on a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore, with stops at ports in Italy, Egypt, Oman, Dubai, India, Malaysia and Thailand, the Web site said. Based on that schedule, the liner was headed from Egypt to Oman when it was attacked.

The only thing that will end the piracy once and for all is to eliminate the pirates safe havens in Somalia, and to destroy the boats the pirates are using to carry out their attacks. That means that the countries that are too busy worrying about the legalities of what would happen if they capture pirates have to start worrying more about the ongoing threat to shipping and the lives of those on board any ship that attempts to transit the waters off Somalia or any of the other active pirate locales.

Meanwhile, other groups are attempting to negotiate ransoms for the releases of shipping. That's a strategy that is disastrous in intent and consequences. The pirates will be richly rewarded for their actions, even though international law is on the side of all law abiding nations to eliminate piracy. Each time a ransom is paid, the pirates will simply see that as a reason to go and attack still more ships in the hopes of obtaining yet another pay day.

The pirates themselves get interviewed and claim that there's no way to stop them.

Somalis are so desperate to survive that attacks on merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean will not stop, a pirate leader promises.

"The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything."

The interview with the pirate was conducted in late August by journalists employed by the Somali news organization Garowe. The complete interview was provided to CNN last week and provides a glimpse of why piracy has been so hard to control in the region.

Sure there is. Blockade the Somali coast and allow the navies of the world to destroy any pirate ships that attempt to cross it. At the same time, those same navies should continue to move towards the ports where the pirates operate from and conduct operations to destroy the boats used. Eliminate the means for the pirates to operate, and the piracy will end. What is sadly lacking is the willpower to make this happen.

UPDATE:
Jane at The Jawa Report has found a map that shows the density of pirate attacks, and surprisingly enough, the bulk are not off the Somali coast as one would expect, but actually are far closer to the Yemeni coastline, which is where the main shipping channels are located. Eaglespeak has additional analysis of the map.