22.07.2008.
The U.S. and international military forces are taking more aggressive action off the African coast as bolder and more violent pirates imperil oil shipments and other trade. The area is a key shipping route for cargo transported to and from the U.S. and elsewhere. In response to pirate attacks, the U.S. has stepped up its patrols to deter them and sometimes intervened to rescue hostages and ships. It also has increased its intelligence-sharing in the area, says Navy Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, which patrols Middle Eastern and African waters.
The U.S. is "very concerned about the increasing number of acts of piracy and armed robbery" off the Somali coast, he says.
Somalia's weak government has admitted it can't control its territorial waters, and Nigeria is fending off a rebel group.
A U.N. Security Council resolution, pushed by the U.S. and passed June 2, allows the U.S. and its coalition allies to intervene by "all necessary means" for the next six months to stop piracy off the Somali coast. Coalition ships have since scared off pirates in at least two attacks, says the London-based International Maritime Bureau.
African coastlines have surpassed Asian shipping lanes as the most dangerous in the world. Hijackings and hostage takings are increasing off the coasts of Somalia in the east and Nigeria in the west. The Asian straits, particularly Indonesia, held the top spot for most of the past decade.
Armed attacks on cargo ships, oil tankers and cruise ships are estimated to cost more than $1 billion a year, says Peter Chalk, a senior security analyst at RAND Corp. "Piracy does affect U.S. commerce. It is to the economic interest of the United States that the sea lanes are as stable as possible," Chalk says.
Piracy in Nigeria is leading to a drop in oil shipments because shipping companies are reluctant to risk ships, cargos and crew, he says. "That has implications for U.S. strategic energy supplies."
African waters account for 56% of all pirate attacks, spiking from 27 attacks in the first half of 2005 to 64 attacks since January.
Meanwhile, pirate attacks elsewhere are dropping, reports the Piracy Reporting Center, a Malaysian-based group that monitors attacks for the bureau.
The attacks are more violent than in Asia, says bureau manager Cyrus Mody.
Pirates near Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, Nigeria and Tanzania took 172 hostages in the first half of the year.
Somali pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades regularly hijack ships and hold crews for ransom.
The Lourdes Tide, a supply ship working for a U.S. company, was attacked in Nigeria on May 13 by armed pirates who demanded a ransom.
Pirates released the vessel and 11-person crew June 16.
The United Nations' World Food Program has requested military escorts to get its ships carrying 32,000 tons of food each month into Somalia, where civil strife and drought have worsened the food crisis. A Dutch frigate ended its escort mission in June, says Peter Smerdon, the group's spokesman in Africa.
Ships alter course by hundreds of miles and expend as much as a day's supply of fuel to avoid Somali pirates, says Michael Livanos, president of Scio Shipping, based in New York. "The costs are gigantic," he says.
The bold pirate attacks along the African coast come as attacks decline in a key Asian shipping lane.
The U.S. military says it donated equipment, coordinated joint training exercises and nudged Indonesia to cooperate with its two maritime neighbors, Singapore and Malaysia.
It wanted the three countries to get control of the Strait of Malacca, an important waterway for oil shipments, cargo and cruise ships.
"It's as critical a chunk of water as exists anywhere in the world," says Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Their efforts seem to be working. Ships sailing near Indonesia reported 13 attacks between Jan. 1 and June 30, down from 64 in the first six months of 2003 — an 80% drop, according to the Maritime Bureau's half-yearly report. Ships reported two attacks in the Malacca Strait so far this year.
The U.S. bolstered Indonesia's Coast Guard and Navy with 15 high-speed patrol boats and seven radar units. It trained with navies from all three countries and persuaded them to share intelligence about ships passing through international and territorial waters.
Malaysia coordinated a joint air patrol with neighboring countries to surveil the waterway.
"If it wasn't safe to bring cargo through the Strait of Malacca, the U.S. Navy would go there and make it safe," says Vice Adm. Doug Crowder, who commands the U.S. 7th Fleet, based in Japan. Crowder says the cooperation now makes that unnecessary.
That same formula is unlikely to work in Africa.
"If you were to try to call the leader of Somalia and ask to come for a visit, who do you call?" Keating says.
Source: USA Today
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