Does Crime Pay? "Somali Jack" Sparrow says "Yes!"

[Darth Rotor]

The latest raid on the shipping lanes off of the Horn of Africa lands a supertanker that can haul about 2 million barrels of oil. (That's quite a bit.)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-piracy19-2008nov19,0,5645455.story

World oil markets took only brief notice of the hijacking, jumping to $58.98 per barrel before closing at $54.95, down $2.09 from Friday, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Had the hijacking taken place earlier in the year, before the world's leading economies began reeling and international demand for oil fell, it might have kicked the price of oil up $5 or more, analysts said.

Perhaps, but let's look at the profit motive: is this an issue of trying to fence a shipload of oil? No, it's more of a "kidnap for profit" deal that seems to be increasing in pupularity in more and more places. (While Mexico is locally famous for it, Mexico is not the only place this goes on.)

{A} ... Ukrainian ship and its crew are still being held off the coast of the East African country as its owners negotiate with the pirates, who are seeking a multimillion-dollar ransom. Pirates typically attack within 200 miles of shore and go after much smaller prey, Christensen said. But in the case of the oil tanker, the assailants, who are holding hostage a multinational crew of 25, appear to be "fundamentally changing the way they're doing business," he said.

From here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/world/africa/18pirates.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Most ships do not have heavy security, while the pirates are fast and well armed. The ransom payments have been rising. Only a few years ago the average ransom was in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 2008 they have mostly ranged from $500,000 to $2 million.

I find it disturbing that as pirate attacks rose a few years ago, the international community, to inlclude my country, did not assemble a blue hulled flotilla (with significant air support) to deal severely with this criminal enterprise. I guess that only happens when the enabling behavior continues, and the pirates up their price.

The pirates’ profits are set to reach a record $50 million in 2008, Somali officials say. Shipping firms are usually prepared to pay, because the sums are still low compared with the value of the ships.

The cost of a security detail is how much, in comparison? Doubtless some clever MBA sort did a cost benefit risk analysis and found it to be cheaper just to pay, rather than increase payroll. This attitude strikes me as similar to how airline hijacking was dealt with for so long.

Action on this matter is long overdue. Hang them from the highest yardarm in the nearest port city.

DR

 

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

Shoot first, ask questions later.

 

[geni]

The cost of a security detail is how much, in comparison? Doubtless some clever MBA sort did a cost benefit risk analysis and found it to be cheaper just to pay, rather than increase payroll. This attitude strikes me as similar to how airline hijacking was dealt with for so long.

Cost wise most of the ships could go via the cape of good hope if too many ships were lost.

Action on this matter is long overdue. Hang them from the highest yardarm in the nearest port city.

First you have to work out who they are.

 

[sackett]

Can somebody bring us up to speed on current maritime law re piracy? Are there any "international waters" left anywhere? If so, and if you caught some pirates in them, what, aside from common decency, would prevent you from icing them then and there?

 

[dudalb]

First you have to work out who they are.

That should not be that hard.
This is a problem that is getting worse and worse.
The only way to solve it is by shutting down the bases in Somalia that the pirates work out of. That is what killed Piracy in the Carribean in the 1700's.
And if the pirates are killed in the process of trying to take a ship, you won't see any tears from me.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Can somebody bring us up to speed on current maritime law re piracy? Are there any "international waters" left anywhere? If so, and if you caught some pirates in them, what, aside from common decency, would prevent you from icing them then and there?

With some exceptions, international waters are any part of the high seas beyond 12 nm from the coast. The exceptions include a variety of maritime zones that I'd need to referesh on to give you a better answer. Might be a trick to get ILOS in a pithy enough form once I do.

Common decency would dictate that one ice pirates on the spot, however, the most common reason not to is the desire to:

1. Not lose the crew/hostages
2. Not lose the cargo
3. Capture them in order to hang them, or whatever, or even find out more about who they are, etc. (Geni made a decent point along those lines)

DR

 

[geni]

Can somebody bring us up to speed on current maritime law re piracy? Are there any "international waters" left anywhere? If so, and if you caught some pirates in them, what, aside from common decency, would prevent you from icing them then and there?

There are various rules of the sea and most contries will have local laws that prevent that.

 

[geni]

That should not be that hard.

Really? How would you go about identifying them in the general somali population?

 

[dudalb]

Really? How would you go about identifying them in the general somali population?

With all the high tech gear we should be able to track them down to the port they operate out of.
So let's just sit back and do nothing about it?

 

[plumjam]

a supertanker that can haul about 2 million barrels of oil. (That's quite a bit.)

They'd better be careful, or there'll be one massive argument about black spots.

 

[timhau]

Shoot first, ask questions later.

The problem is that right now they're sitting on two million barrels of oil, and I suspect everyone wants to keep that oil mostly inside the tanker.

 

[geni]

With all the high tech gear we should be able to track them down to the port they operate out of.
So let's just sit back and do nothing about it?

Yeah we know which port it is doesn't help much. Telling the difference between a pirate and the average somalli inhabitant of the port is somewhat tricky.

 

[WildCat]

The pirates launch their attack boats from "mother ships" disguised as fishing boats. I think it's long overdue that the various navies in the area start boarding every fishing boat they see to search for evidence of piracy (weaponry, ladders, etc). If found, sink the boat on the spot.

Without the mother ship the pirates can't operate.

 

[The Man]

The pirates launch their attack boats from "mother ships" disguised as fishing boats. I think it's long overdue that the various navies in the area start boarding every fishing boat they see to search for evidence of piracy (weaponry, ladders, etc). If found, sink the boat on the spot.

Without the mother ship the pirates can't operate.

I saw part of an episode of “Shadow Force” on the History Channel where then had mercenaries practicing for boarding and inspecting suspected pirate mother ships. I did not see the end of it though.

 

[dudalb]

The pirates launch their attack boats from "mother ships" disguised as fishing boats. I think it's long overdue that the various navies in the area start boarding every fishing boat they see to search for evidence of piracy (weaponry, ladders, etc). If found, sink the boat on the spot.

Without the mother ship the pirates can't operate.

Can you say "US Navy Seal?".

 

[geni]

The pirates launch their attack boats from "mother ships" disguised as fishing boats. I think it's long overdue that the various navies in the area start boarding every fishing boat they see to search for evidence of piracy (weaponry, ladders, etc). If found, sink the boat on the spot.

Without the mother ship the pirates can't operate.

They can. Just need to improve their own boats and they have. Your other problem is that this is somalia. Weaponry isn't evidence of piracy.

 

[Jimbo07]

Can you say "US Navy Seal?".

... or even every navy's trained boarding parties.

Problems:
- there is not an infinite supply of trained boarding parties, even in the U.S. navy
- attacking ports may carry political ramifications
- it's not a problem that can be solved with missiles

 

[plumjam]

No need for Navy Seals, vaseline should do the job.

 

[Travis]

Wasn't the US Navy developing the Littoral Combat Ship to deal with things like this?

 

[tomwaits]

If it weren't for the crew, I would be in complete support of totally wiping out the pirates with chemical weapons. Serves them right.