With the recent capture of Somalian pirates who have been brought to Mumbai, a large number of Indian ship owners fear a backlash from the militia
With the recent capture of Somalian pirates who have been brought to Mumbai, a large number of Indian ship owners fear a backlash from the militia
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Even as the Indian defence forces are getting entangled in the piracy problem deeper than ever before, more than 800 dhows and trawler owners plying along the Somalian coast are worried about their future following the ongoing maritime operations.
A large number of ships owners from Kandla, Jamnagar and Mandvi expect a backlash from the Somalian militia after the Navy's actions in recent weeks.
Mumbai police officials escort pirates atu00a0 Yellow gate police station in Mumbai. Theseu00a0 Somalian pirates were arrested by the Indian Navy following a gun battle off the coast of Lakshadweep Islands
Seafarers fear they could be caught in the crossfire between the Somalian pirates and the Indian armed forces deployed to protect the Exclusive Economic Zone extending 200 nautical miles off the country's shores.
There are unconfirmed reports that a large number of seafarers have gone down with the pirates, post the various navies patrolling the seas along the Gulf of Aden.
"Nobody knows the exact figure, but several hijacked trawlers have sunk with the pirates and the ship's original crew after being hit by missiles and other dreaded projectiles," said ship owner Haji Hamid, from Gandhidham.
"Plying along the African coast is our livelihood. We do not get local business, which is why we have to sail the dangerous waters off Somalia and other countries.
We have invested around Rs 1.5 crore per vessel and cannot afford to keep them idle," said ship owner, Jagdeep Ayaachi from Kandla in North Gujarat.
Most of the dhows and trawlers carry livestock, rice, onions and potatoes from ports like Tuna, Luni, Jamnagar, Mandvi, Jakhau for Arab and African ports.
On the return voyage they carry consignments of dates. Some ship owners have been paying 'hafta' to the pirates through Dubai brokers. A large number of Somalian businessmen collect protection money on behalf of militia fighters.
Now, they fear that the situation might get out of hand after Somalian pirates find themselves against the wall. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have bottled them up making them even more desperate.
Coast Guard sources disclosed that an estimated 1,200 seafarers were taken hostage and between $ 500,000 and $ 2 million were recovered from shipping companies as ransom last year. On an average, about 50 ships have been hijacked over the past five years, sources disclosed.
Intelligence inputs indicate pirates operate from Puntland, close to the Gulf of Aden. The brokers from Dubai are usually in contact with the Somalian militia there and pass on details of cargo and owners before the vessel is targetted.
The piracy crisis started around 1992 when Somalia was embroiled in chaos.
Commercial fishing fleets from distant Thailand, Japan, Myanmar plundered the tuna-rich waters for huge catches.
With no coastal patrols along the coastline, the local militia fighters started collecting protection money to allow commercial fishing fleets to ply their vessels in the waters. Soon, they got involved in hijacking ships for ransom.
A senior Coast Guard officer said as soon as they collected money they went on an arms buying spree. They bought Kalashnikovs, rocket propelled grenades and other assorted weapons to hijack merchant ships in packs of 10 or more.
Soon, the Somalian pirates moved on to block the cash-rich channel, the Gulf of Aden. Navies worldwide deployed their warships to protect their business interests in the area.
The Somalian pirates were forced to find safer haven off the Lakshwadeep and Maldives coast. Little were they aware that the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard would challenge them.
Indian forces have been extra vigilant after being tipped off that Pakistani marine commandos could attack after going around the Lakshwadeep Island. They are stopping all suspect vessels in the area and sinking several trying to flee.
However, inadvertently the Navy and Coast Guard are getting the Indian government locked in the international pirate issue. "Soon, there will be hundreds of extra mouths to feed," confessed a senior police officer, which did not want to be named.
Back story
Fifteen Somali and Ethiopian pirates apprehended by the Indian Navy after a gunbattle off the Lakshadweep coast while trying to loot a foreign merchant vessel were on Monday placed under arrest and would face the Indian law for the first time.
The pirates 14 Somali and an Ethiopian have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 307 (attempt to murder) and 363 (kidnapping), besides the Passport Act, Deputy Police Commissioner Khalid Kaisar said. "Perhaps it is for the first time that Somali pirates will face the Indian law," the DCP said.
According to the police, the pirates had launched an attack on M V Verdi, a merchant vessel flagged from Bahamas, on the high seas. Spotting the two skiffs approaching the vessel fast, the crew alerted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre on radio seeking help, the DCP said.
"In a joint operation by the Navy and Mumbai and Kochi Coast Guard, a Dornier (an aircraft) was flown to the spot after which the skiffs changed direction and moved towards another vessel, Prantalay," Kaisar said.
Prantalay, with Thai and Myanmarese nationals on board, had been hijacked by the pirates a few months ago and the victims held hostage.
After a few hours' chase, Indian Navy's fast attack craft Cankarso closed in on Prantalay and tried to establish contact on the international mercantile radio, but in vain, Kaisar said. 
INS Tir's boat towing the captured pirate skiff
A warning shot was fired from INS Cankarso to stop Prantalay and the pirates retaliated. Finally, the officials of the Navy and Coast Guard managed to catch the pirates, who were first taken to Kochi and brought to Mumbai on Monday, February 7, where they were arrested.
u00a0The pirates would be interrogated by officials from the Navy, police and intelligence agencies, he said. Meanwhile, the Thai and Myanmarese crew members of the hijacked ship are being taken to Kochi for questioning after which they would be sent back to their homes.
- Agencies
The Somali threat
Piracy off the Somali coast has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War in the early 21st century.
Since 2005, many international organisations, including the International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.
Piracy has contributed to an increase in shipping costs and impeded the delivery of food aid shipments. Ninety percent of the World Food Programme's shipments arrive by sea, and ships into this area now require a military escort.
A United Nations report and several news sources have suggested that piracy off the coast of Somalia is caused in part by illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters by foreign vessels that have, according to Somali fishermen, severely constrained the ability of locals to earn a living and forced many to turn to piracy instead.
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Other articles allege that 70 percent of the local coastal communities, "strongly support the piracy as a form of national defense of the country's territorial waters", and that the pirates believe they are protecting their fishing grounds and exacting justice and compensation for the marine resources stolen.
New drive
The United Nations's maritime agency called for a new drive against piracy earlier this week, as officials and ship owners voiced fears that the growing scourge of Somali pirates was outpacing international efforts to deal with them.
The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) action plan, which calls for closer international coordination of military and civilian efforts against piracy, comes at a time of growing concern over the expanding reach, ambition and firepower of Somali-based pirates.
"Piracy seems to be outpacing the efforts of the international community to stem it," United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told delegates at the launch of the plan at the London headquarters of the IMO.
Ransom payments of hundreds of millions of dollars had created a, 'pirate economy' in some areas of Somalia and insurance premiums were on the rise," Ban said.
Just yesterday, the Italian Coast Guard reported an Italian oil tanker that has been attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean.
Commander Cosimo Nicastro says there was an exchange of fire between the pirates and crew and that the pirates were believed to have boarded the, Savina Caylyn, "a 266-meter (873-foot) tanker.
The tanker was about 500 miles (800 kilometers) west of the Indian coast. Nicastro said it was not unheard of for Somali pirates to operate so far from the Somali coast.
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The tanker is owned by Naples-based Fratelli D'Amato SpA shipbuilders. The coast guard was alerted to the attack by a satellite alarm system all Italian ships have that registers with the coast guard's operations centre in Rome.
About Somalia
Located in Eastern Africa, Somalia is officially known as the Republic of Somalia. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991, there is no national government in Somalia. Considered as a failed state, Somalia is one of the poorest and most violent countries in the world. Somalia was formed by the union of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. The Somali Republic gained independence on 1 July 1960
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