For the international naval forces off the East African coast, the gloves appear to be coming off in their battle with Somali pirates.
The officers on board the Russian destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov will have been training for the moment when they surprised Somali pirates and boarded the hijacked oil tanker Moscow University. Ten pirates were captured and one died in the assault. Russian Premier Vladimir Putin immediately demanded medals for the specially trained commandos, which they very probably deserve. Unfortunately what seems to have been an otherwise flawless operation was spoiled by the reported escape of some of the hijackers. It would have been good to take all of these criminals to Russia to face trial.
The European Union’s NavFor admitted perhaps a little grudgingly that this had been “a dramatic rescue.” The tough response of the Russians, prefigured two months ago when the U.S. Navy rescued an American captain held hostage on a pirate boat, comes in stark contrast to the softer touch of the EU navies. The Germans seized a pirate crew in the act of attacking a merchantman, but having disarmed them, released them and their vessel, apparently on orders from Berlin. Because Kenya is now declining to host further trials of capture pirates, the Germans clearly did not want the bother of a prosecution mounted on their own soil. The British were even softer. A Royal Naval vessel was actually close by when a husband and wife were being seized with their yacht by pirates. The Brits did nothing because their rules of engagement forbad them from risking injury to any hostages. The luckless couple were taken into captivity where they remain months later, because along with refusing to risk rescuing them, the British authorities always refuse to facilitate the payment of ransoms.
There was long an argument that using main force against the pirates would provoke them into using greater firepower against their maritime victims. It might also endanger the lives of over 300 hostages currently held by the pirates. This approach now seems to have misread the reality. The pirates were becoming more ruthless anyway while there was little advantage in harming the hostages they hoped to ransom, unless it was a bloody display to encourage payments.
This week Hizbul Islam, which claims a desire to stamp out piracy in Somalia, seized the main pirate base of Haradhere. Other sources allege they wish to share in the spoils. If the latter then it is likely that the pirates could become even more aggressive, with attacks perhaps on naval vessels as well as merchant ships. This may be a new consideration that will cause world naval chiefs to continue to reject a close blockade of the Somali coast, to stop and search all vessels leaving or arriving in these waters.
For many this concentration of naval forces in a given area remains the most obvious strategy rather than having them scattered around the vastness of the open sea, convoying their own nation’s vessels or patrolling on the off chance of finding a pirate vessel at work.
The European Union’s NavFor admitted perhaps a little grudgingly that this had been “a dramatic rescue.” The tough response of the Russians, prefigured two months ago when the U.S. Navy rescued an American captain held hostage on a pirate boat, comes in stark contrast to the softer touch of the EU navies. The Germans seized a pirate crew in the act of attacking a merchantman, but having disarmed them, released them and their vessel, apparently on orders from Berlin. Because Kenya is now declining to host further trials of capture pirates, the Germans clearly did not want the bother of a prosecution mounted on their own soil. The British were even softer. A Royal Naval vessel was actually close by when a husband and wife were being seized with their yacht by pirates. The Brits did nothing because their rules of engagement forbad them from risking injury to any hostages. The luckless couple were taken into captivity where they remain months later, because along with refusing to risk rescuing them, the British authorities always refuse to facilitate the payment of ransoms.
There was long an argument that using main force against the pirates would provoke them into using greater firepower against their maritime victims. It might also endanger the lives of over 300 hostages currently held by the pirates. This approach now seems to have misread the reality. The pirates were becoming more ruthless anyway while there was little advantage in harming the hostages they hoped to ransom, unless it was a bloody display to encourage payments.
This week Hizbul Islam, which claims a desire to stamp out piracy in Somalia, seized the main pirate base of Haradhere. Other sources allege they wish to share in the spoils. If the latter then it is likely that the pirates could become even more aggressive, with attacks perhaps on naval vessels as well as merchant ships. This may be a new consideration that will cause world naval chiefs to continue to reject a close blockade of the Somali coast, to stop and search all vessels leaving or arriving in these waters.
For many this concentration of naval forces in a given area remains the most obvious strategy rather than having them scattered around the vastness of the open sea, convoying their own nation’s vessels or patrolling on the off chance of finding a pirate vessel at work.
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