Somali hijackers who have been a not-so-Jolly-Roger scourge of shipping off the coast of Africa have set their price for their biggest pirated prize: USD 25 million for the release of a Saudi-owned supertanker seized on the high seas, while the befuddled navies of the world – apart from India, which sank a pirate ship – can’t figure out how to stop them. Mohamed Said, one of the pirates, threatened “disastrous” consequences if he doesn’t get the money he wants, Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera reported. T

he Sirius Star, which was hijacked some 830 kilometres south-east of the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, was anchored near the Somali port of Harardhere, one of several pirate strongholds, while ransom negotiations took place and warships from the United States and other countries stood by helplessly.

The ship, which is owned by Vela International Marine Limited, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, was carrying a full load of two million barrels of oil worth USD 100 million when it was seized. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al- Faisal said that the owners were in talks with the pirates and it was their decision to pay the ransom or not. The 25 crew members, from Britain, Croatia, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia, were according to the owners all safe, and there were no plans by either international or African forces authorities to storm the ship.

Piracy off the Horn of Africa nation has surged in recent months, and the chairman of the African Union said political infighting is feeding the explosion. Jean Ping linked the piracy surge to a rift within the leadership of Somalia’s transitional federal government and called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in the nation as soon as possible. “This is a clear indication of the further deterioration of the situation with far reaching consequences for this country, the region and the larger international community,” the AU said in a statement.

The surge in piracy has coincided with a bloody insurgency in Somalia, where ousted Islamists have been fighting to regain control since early 2007. The government has not only been too busy fighting the insurgents to worry about piracy, but in recent months has descended into political infighting. Insurgents have taken advantage of this to seize towns across Somalia and push to the edge of the capital, Mogadishu.

PLUNDER AT WILL
At the same time, pirates, based mainly in the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, have attacked ships in droves despite the presence of international warships in the Gulf of Aden. Many shipping lines are now avoiding or considering avoiding the Gulf of Aden - a busy shipping channel which forms part of the route linking the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. After the Sirius Star was taken, an Iranian cargo ship and a Thai fishing boat were also been seized.

The East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme reported that a Greek ship was also hijacked, but the Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine has denied this. Before the latest seizures, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said there had been 92 attempts at piracy in the region this year, 36 of them successful. If the report of a Greek ship being hijacked proves correct, 17 vessels are in the hands of pirates along with more than 300 crew. The Sirius Star is the largest vessel taken by pirates and represents their most daring raid yet, despite the presence of international warships.

The surge in piracy has prompted increased patrols by NATO, Russia, the US-led coalition forces and France along the Somali coast. The seizure of the Sirius Star took place outside the normal danger areas in the Gulf of Aden, prompting anti-piracy officials to warn that the pirates could be changing their tactics in response to the increased warship presence.

INDIA ON THE ATTACK
The European Union has also authorized a force of between five and seven frigates, which is expected to arrive in the Gulf of Aden early December. German Foreign Minister Frank- Walter Steinmeier said during a visit to India, the only country to take on the pirates, that the German Navy would soon decide whether to join the EU mission. The German parliament, the Bundestag, is to decide in December whether to participate. Russia also said it would deploy more warships to Somalia.

“After the Neustrashimy, Russia will be sending warships from other fleets to this region to the region,” Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said, alluding to a warship, the Fearless, now patrolling the coast, news agency Ria-Novosti reported. An increased naval presence has not deterred the pirates as they pursue huge ransoms, but they have recently started to suffer losses. The Indian navy said that its INS Tabar stealth frigate, which has been deployed in the Gulf of Aden for antipiracy surveillance and patrol operations, destroyed a pirate mothership - the first time a pirate mothership has been destroyed.

Meanwhile, The Indian Navy has been given formal approval for “hot pursuit” of pirates in Somali waters and will be deploying another warship to tackle piracy in the region, officials and news reports said. The United Nations has recently authorized the Indian Navy to enter Somali territorial waters to take anti-piracy measures, a navy official said on condition of anonymity. So far a UN resolution had restricted the hot pursuit permission to the navies of US and French, the CNN-IBN network reported.

“The Indian Navy and all other navies are mandated and required to take action to prevent piracy in international waters. That is what the law is,” Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta told the news channel. “When it comes to chasing pirates in territorial waters, then you need some different laws. In the case of Somalia, we also have this permission available to us,” he added. Unfettered access to Somali waters is expected to enable the Indian Navy to tackle piracy more aggressively, the report said.

The Indian navy is also planning to send up to four warships in the “pirate-infested” Gulf of Aden, news reports said. Another powerful warship will be reaching the Gulf of Aden by next week to carry out joint patrols with the INS Tabar, the Times of India daily reported. India has made calls for greater cooperation between the foreign navies under the UN banner to protect merchant traffic on the sea route. Incidents of piracy have increased off the Somali coast in the recent months with growing concern in India as many Indian crew members have been aboard hijacked ships.

The Stolt Valor, a Japanese-owned ship seized nearly two months ago with 18 Indian sailors aboard, was freed by Somali hijackers after its shipping company reportedly paid a ransom of USD 2.5 million. On November 17, Somali pirates seized two new ships including the MV Delight - which has seven Indians on the 25-member crew - after they hijacked the Sirius Star. The International Maritime Bureau recently described the region as “the number one piracy danger zone” with 26 vessels hijacked and 537 crew members taken hostage by Somali pirates from July to September.

THE EU FLEET
The Somali pirates have been plundering at will all year, but it wasn’t until they hijacked a Kenya-bound cargo ship in October carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and munitions and held 20-member crew hostage that the international community ramped up its efforts to stop them. That seizure prompted the EU to say it would send a fleet, but not until December, allowing the pirates to just keep taking vessels as they wanted. “(Piracy) has increased to such an extent that an EU mission has become necessary,” said German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung.

“This is about security at sea and free maritime trade,” Jung added. Diplomats said the EU fleet would consist of three warships, one supply ship and three maritime surveillance aircraft. “We have to be able to do something even if we know that the stretch of sea involved is extremely vast and fighting pirates is not easy,” said French Defence Minister Herve Morin, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Germany has said it is ready to supply one frigate. France already has a frigate in place while Spain is operating a surveillance aircraft in the region. The EU has already set up a cell in Brussels tasked with coordinating searches and the deployment of naval resources.