Piracy May Be Reinvented After the Fall to Zero in Kidnappings
Source: Lavoz Digital [Orig Spanish Language]
THIRTEEN months and there has not been a hijack in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean areas where pirates operate. Military pressure, the presence of guards in the fishery areas and ground intelligence work have paid off, and now piracy is no longer rampant in the corridor where 40% of global oil and 23,000 ships a year transit.
Such is the situation that the [Spanish] frigate Numancia, says its comandate, Luis Diaz-Bedia, that they have not been required to launch helicopter missions to neutralize the activity on pirate bases. "Piracy has dropped so much that many members have been converted into security guards for 'dhows' (cargo/fishing vessels) Somali, Yemeni and Iranian dhows account for many making a stop at the port of Djibouti. "But the future is not so clear and if we go hard on the Atalanta mandate ending December 2014 - piracy may return."
The Gulf of Aden remains a valuable geo-strategic area and countries like the U.S., Russia, China and Japan have a military presence. Others like South Korea protect their tuna fishing in Somali waters and pay guards not to be kidnapped, according to military sources.
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