This is utterly outrageous.

That criminals from the largely lawless Land of Punt would turn to piracy on the High Seas is bad enough. That they would venture to predate on one of their smallest neighbours is absolutely unforgivable.

Since the collapse of effective government in Somalia in the 1990s and the ever-increasing reports of piracy at the Horn of Africa by a bunch of disgruntled ex-militiamen and impoverished but strangely well-armed fishermen, there were glaring signs of the inevitability of little Seychelles eventually falling victim to the marauding Somali pirates. In November 2005 and April 2008, we made world news headlines when first a US cruise ship then, a Victoria-based Spanish purse-seiner managed to berth safely in Port Victoria after successfully escaping from attempted piracy some 150kms and 460kms respectively off the Somali Coast.

Over the last decade, there have been hundreds of attacks by pirates on shipping at the horn of Africa and in a large swath that lumbers down off the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania and the Comorros.
Since 2005, at least 82 separate and well-documented (*) attacks occurred that put in grave danger, the lives of over 3200 ship-crew members, fishermen and cruise ship passengers from nations across all continents, including from small islands states.
17 crew members have lost their lives as a direct result of pirate attacks on their ships. 130 are still in captivity, excluding the 9 Seychellois, assumed to also be in pirates’ hands since end March 09.
For the same period and number of attacks, only 72 pirates have been captured and 16 killed.

It helps not that we may be fully explained why some Somalis have turned to piracy. We know that the strategic position of a country with a quasi non-existent government, on the rich international shipping / trade route that pinches at the Gulf of Aden and the juicy prizes that can be plucked at merest effort, have combined with both the complacency of international shipping and international diplomacy, to lure both local discontents and criminals as well as the global underworld to gather for rich pickings.

Piracy and business interests have shared and fought over the same seas since time immemorial, in particular within the West Indian Ocean area. From that co-existence, modern business seems to have developed into adopting a position that seeks to largely accommodate pirates’ demands.

In only 15 of the 82 documented cases since 2005, an estimated MINIMUM US$23.265M have been paid out to the pirates in order to secure the release of captured crew, ship and cargo.

This is rich pickings indeed that would not pass by without drawing attention of powerful underworld interests who will more and more be drawn like moths to a flame, to our corner of the world. It already is difficult to deal with illegal narcotics, illegal immigration, slavery and other like activities from which piracy is a mere derivation. The situation can escalate and could potentially spiral out of control.
There is enough money to pay for faster and better boats, better technology, more effective weapons, to intercept, capture and hold ships and crew for ever higher ransom!

This cycle has to be broken. The international community seems to have woken up at last and by virtue of a UN Security Council December 2008 resolution, is trying to contain the situation, particularly in the area immediately around the Horn of Africa between latitudes 6° - 14° N and 45°- 55°S, where shipping is at the greatest risk and where the multinational naval task force managed to foil at least 13 separate attacks involving the lives of some 200 crew members, and the capture or death of 52 pirates.

As they seek to contain the situation north, the pirates seem to be mobile enough to have shifted some of their attention south, spreading their predatory nets right across the northern mouth of the Mozambique Channel, between 2°N-4°S and 48°-52°E. For us in Seychelles, that is too close for comfort!

The situation seems rather complex.

The Multi-national Task Force seem to be sometimes too bound by rules of engagement and diplomatic strings that must have the pirates and their command centers laughing.
Perhaps this explained their boldness to launch, in March 06, attacks against USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez. Or maybe they were just too ‘qhatted’ out!
A year later, in June 07, the USS Carter Hall failed to stop the capture of the MV Danica White and in October of the same year, the USS Porter also failed to stop the capture of the MV Golden Nori . A total US$2.5M were paid out in ransom.
The situation is also one of extreme danger to innocent crew, as the November 08 incident showed when the INS Tabar inadvertently destroyed the Thai FV Ekawat Nava 5 with the loss of 15 out of the 16 crew!

What is happening in the our western corner of the Indian Ocean is a pestering sore that has endured through the centuries and now needs to be cauterised and expunged. Small countries with limited resources like Seychelles, cannot afford to have the pirates gain a hold in the area where national security and sovereignty can be too easily challenged
Our country comprises small, remote islands too uncomfortably dispersed and over an area too easily accessible to pirates to both use as base to launch their attacks and as targets in themselves.

Now that piracy in the area has proven to offer rich prizes, those of the underworld can easily shift their attention from their other criminal activities to join ranks and cash in from our remote islands.

Each human life, even that of a pirate, is precious. However, when cupidity pushes someone to the point that human lives become mere barter chips that can be carelessly tossed aside, then we must harden our resolve not to be squeamish.

So far, the ‘Somali’ pirates seem not to have been specifically targeting ship crew, in so far as most captured have survived their ordeal. However this may change once our resolves harden. Hopefully, our 9 brothers will, along with the 130 ship crew still in captivity, find their freedom before the situation changes.

(*) Source: Wikipedia.org