Modern Day Pirates

   On April 8^th, 2009, Somali pirates attacked an American ship, the Maersk Alabama, almost four hundred miles off of the Somali coast.  The ships crew, which included twenty American citizens, did manage to escape with their ship, but their captain, Richard Phillips, remained as a hostage.  In response, the warship USS Bainbridge was deployed, but when they arrived on scene it became quite clear that a quick rescue for the hostage was not in the cards.  On the second day, the FBI became involved, to aid in the negotiations with the pirates.  The next day, the captain attempted an escape, but was forced to return when the pirates fired their guns as a warning only a few seconds after Captain Phillips entered the water.  Two days after his failed escape, however, Richard Phillips was rescued.

   There is another side to this story, however, and it is that of the pirates.  The Somali pirates did not originally start out kidnapping sailors and demanding steep ransoms for the return of foreign vessels.  In fact, they actually began as fishermen.  Somalia had been involved in a civil war for several years.  As a result of the fall of the Somali government, foreign fishing boats began catching tuna off the country’s coast.  Since this caused some issues within the economy, local fisherman with access to small boats and weapons, courtesy of the civil war, attacked the other fishing ships.  Thus began what would eventually turn into the highly lucrative pirating business. 

   And the business is lucrative.  The pirates are described by resident Abdi Farah Juha of Garowe, the regional capitol, as having money, power, and are getting stronger by the day.  He goes onto say that piracy, in many ways, is socially acceptable. 

  “They have become fashionable.” He says.

   There may be a benefit to the pirate’s prosperity, however.  As a result of their wealth their hostages are very well looked after, which puts a silver lining on this rather dismal looking cloud.  How long the pirates will continue to capture foreign vessels sailing near the coast of Somalia is unknown.  What has become quite clear, however, is that they do not see themselves as pirates.  Abdulkadil Mohamed, another Garowe resident, says “Illegal fishing is the root cause of the piracy problem.  They call themselves coastguards.”