Last modification: 04/12/08
 -  piracy - Somalia
 
The Gulf of Aden, a pirate’s paradise
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Located between Yemen and Somalia, the Gulf of Aden is a major maritime passageway between Europe and the Far East that, in recent years, has become a veritable nightmare for navigators and a paradise for Somali pirates.
Since January 2008, acts of piracy have been on the rise off the Horn of Africa. But it is the choice of targets and the pirates’ growing resources that are beginning to worry the international community. During the 1990s, pirates were known to attack simple fishing vessels using small boats and small arms. Today, they are increasingly targeting large commercial ships and attacking them farther and farther from the coastline, using high-speed motorboats and heavy automatic weapons. Since the summer, the pirates have become bolder. After a September attack on a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks, a Saudi supertanker was attacked on November 15 on the open Indian Ocean, more than 800 kilometres from the coast. On November 22, the UN’s International Maritime Organization described the situation off the Somali coast as “out of control.”

  • PIRACY - SOMALIA
    'Pirates have sophisticated equipment'
    Read our exclusive interview with Shojaa al-Mahdi, director-general of the Yemen coast guard authority, who explains how Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden are so effective.
  • SOMALIA - PIRACY
    Somali pirates hijack Yemeni ship
    Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni vessel, the MV Amani, in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen. This comes on the heels of an increase in Somali attacks on pirate ships, some of which have included ransom demands.
  • SOMALIA
    Private security firms benefit from piracy
    In the war against piracy off the coast of Somalia, private security firms are offering military experience and weaponry to ship owners, most of whom are willing to pay thousands of dollars a day for their own private army.
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  • SOMALIA
    Piracy threat forces major shippers to divert route
    The UN security council voted to impose sanctions on anyone contributing to violence in Somalia. This as major shipping companies are being forced to divert their ships from the Suez Canal to longer routes to avoid Somali pirates.

Related links

  • UN - PIRACY
    Egypt backs EU 'anti-pirates plan'
    Cairo said it was willing to take part in UN-sponsored missions to patrol Somalia's Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean waters, after the UN Security Council approved an 'anti-piracy plan' drawn up by the European Union and set to begin on Dec. 8.
  • SOMALIA
    Pirates to release arms-laden Ukrainian ship
    Somali pirates and the owners of a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks and other military hardware have reached a deal to release the vessel. The gunmen demanded a $20 million ransom for the Kenya-bound ship captured in September.
  • SOMALIA - INDIA - THAILAND
    Navy denies reports of sinking Thai fishing boat
    A maritime watchdog says that a vessel sunk by the Indian navy in the Gulf of Aden was a Thai fishing trawler and not a Somali pirate vessel. India's navy denied the reports and said the ship it sank was hostile.
  • PIRACY - SOMALIA
    'Pirates have sophisticated equipment'
    Read our exclusive interview with Shojaa al-Mahdi, director-general of the Yemen coast guard authority, who explains how Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden are so effective.
  • SOMALIA
    Pirates reduce tanker ransom to $15 million
    Somali pirates who commandeered a Saudi supertanker are now asking for a $15 million ransom, down from an original $25 million demand. The Sirius Star carries a crude oil cargo estimated at $100 million.
  • SOMALIA
    Somali pirates warn they will fight back
    Pirates holding a Saudi oil tanker have warned they will retaliate if a rescue mission is attempted. They are demanding a 25-million dollar ransom for the ship.
  • SOMALIA
    Danger on the high seas
    The world's shipping industry is having to grapple with an ancient threat of the seas: piracy. Somali pirates are becoming increasingly brazen in the Gulf of Aden, a vital shipping route. How is the shipping industry responding?
  • SOMALIA
    Indian warship sinks Somali pirate vessel
    An Indian warship destroyed a Somali pirate vessel in a brief battle late on Tuesday. Other Asian nations also plan to send military ships to secure the Gulf of Aden, in an attempt to secure the area after a recent spike of pirate attacks.
  • SOMALIA
    Pirates reportedly demand ransom for Saudi oil tanker
    Al Jazeera has issued an audio tape presented as a message from one of the pirates who captured a huge Saudi oil supertanker on Monday. The group demands an unspecified ransom, and claims to have machines that detect fake money.
  • UN - PIRACY
    New Somalia piracy resolution adopted at UN
    The UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging states to commit naval and air assets to the fight against piracy off Somalia. "It states very clearly that you can use force against the pirates," said France's UN ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert.

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