What are the main causes of Somali piracy?

What are the main causes of Somali piracy?

The root cause of Somali piracy lies in the threat that illegal fishing posed to the livelihoods of subsistence and commercial fishermen along the coastline. During the early 1990s, Somali subsistence fishing and the fishing industry coexisted with illegally-placed foreign fishermen in the vast Somali waters.

What has been done to stop Somali pirates?

Once a centre of pirate activity, the federal state has taken proactive and effective counter-piracy measures – like establishing a maritime police force – to drive away pirate groups and secure the coast. This has driven the network to the nearby autonomous region of Galmudug.

What challenges did the Pirates face?

Pirates did not usually live a long life. This was due to many factors including their exposure to the elements, poor hygiene, exposure to others who are ill, being involved in dangerous conditions, starvation, dehydration, etc. Sometimes pirates were wounded and/or even killed while trying to steal from another ship.

What are the effects of Somali piracy?

Somali piracy has had unintended positive consequences—from the economy to international cooperation. In 2009, piracy off the coast of Somalia splashed onto the global stage at near epidemic levels. The impact of Somali piracy affected the entire international community as shipping expenses soared.

How bad is Somali piracy?

Somali pirates have attacked hundreds of vessels in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region, though most attacks do not result in a successful hijacking. In 2008, there were 111 attacks which included 42 successful hijackings. (There has been a general and complete arms embargo against Somalia since 1992.)

What is the Somali government doing about piracy?

The long-term solution to piracy is a stable Somali government with a functional judiciary, but that requires peace between the country’s warring clans.

How does the Somali government work?

The politics of Somalia takes place in a framework of federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. According to the Constitution of Somalia, the President of Somalia is head of state, and Prime Minister as head of government who is appointed by the President with the parliament’s approval.

Was there a pirate code?

A pirate code, pirate articles, or articles of agreement were a code of conduct for governing pirates. A group of sailors, on turning pirate, would draw up their own code or articles, which provided rules for discipline, division of stolen goods, and compensation for injured pirates.

Are Somali pirates still an issue?

Somalia reported zero piracy incidents in 2019, a trend that continued through the beginning of 2020. However, Somali pirates continue to possess the capacity to carry out attacks in the Somali basin and wider Indian Ocean. Following an active 2019, there has been no let-up in piracy in 2020.

How does Somali piracy affect the economy?

A recent study though, which was focused on the dry bulk market, estimated that since the outburst of attacks in 2008, Somali Piracy has led to approximately a 10 percent increase in shipping costs and a welfare loss of more than 1,5 billion USD (Besley, et al., 2012).

Why can’t ships shoot at pirates?

Cargo ships don’t carry weapons because it is feared this would increase the likelihood of crew members getting killed or injured. First the crew sounded the alarm to the US navy and then disabled the boat’s engine before the pirates got control of the ship.

How are foreign powers tackling piracy in Somalia?

Foreign navies have played a key role in curbing piracy off Somalia’s coast, writes the BBC’s Anne Soy. On a beach in Hordeia on the northern coast of Somalia, I asked a former pirate what attracted him to piracy in the first place.

Why did the Somali government not go after the Pirates?

The Somali government has not gone after pirates because pirate leaders currently have more power than the government. In 2008 the pirates are estimated to have gained about $80 million through ransom payments. On 2 May 2009, Somali pirates captured MV Ariana with its 24 Ukrainian crew.

What are the repercussions of instability in Somalia?

The repercussions of these state of affairs have not just internally displaced the peoples, caused many deaths, but also poses dire consequences to other neighboring countries in the horn and East Africa. This paper is not about the instability in Somalia and the conflicting clans and militia groups.

When did the Indian Navy enter Somali waters?

On 21 November 2008, BBC News reported that the Indian Navy had received United Nations approval to enter Somali waters to combat piracy. On 8 April 2009, four Somali pirates seized MV Maersk Alabama 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of the Somalia port city of Eyl.