BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- With their Nov. 15 capture of the Sirius Star, one of the world's largest oil tankers carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, the biggest vessel ever hijacked at sea, Somali pirates leaped into the global spotlight, setting alarm bells ringing on the seriousness of the threat they pose.
¡¡¡¡WHAT'S HAPPENING, ITS CONSEQUENCES
This capture was followed by several other hijackings. During the course of a single day on Nov. 18, three ships -- a Thai fishing boat, a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel and a Greek bulk carrier -- were hijacked by Somali pirates even as an Indian warship attacked a pirate mother-vessel off the Somali coastline.
Nearly 90 incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast between January and October this year have been recorded by a global maritime body. According to the British strategic think tank Chatham House, the pirates have collected something between 18 million and 30 million U.S. dollars in ransom so far.
Compare this to the United Nations Development Program's annual budget for Somalia of only 14 million dollars.
To commercial shippers in the region, this spells a nightmare. Somali pirates now look set to go on attacking vessels heading into or out of the Red Sea or passing through the Gulf of Aden into the Indian Ocean regardless of their size, affecting about 10percent of world shipping.
That means the world will have to face the disruption of one of its busiest shipping lanes and a spike in insurance premiums.
Not to mention the delays caused by possible detouring, the ripple effect on the already volatile oil prices -- as almost half the world's crude is transported by sea and much of it passes Somalia every day, and reduced revenues for the Suez Canal, though the last will mainly be a problem for Egypt.
What's more, insecurity inside Somalia and off the Somali coastline poses a major obstacle to the delivery of much-needed humanitarian supplies, while the relatively easier money to be made from piracy might lure more aid-reliant people in the impoverished country to resort to it.
UPHILL TASK
The recent hijackings came even as the British Royal Navy, the U.S. navy and other foreign naval forces continued to patrol Somali waters and other areas in the Gulf of Aden.
The EU has recently agreed to deploy an air and naval force off the coast of Somalia to guard sea lanes against piracy. The EU's naval mission, to be in place by next month, is expected to protect vulnerable vessels off the Somali coast and help ensure the delivery of aid.
Meanwhile, NATO has already sent a fleet to protect food shipments to Somalia, and the South Korean government also plans to dispatch a 4,500-ton destroyer as well as navy special forces to the waters off Somalia.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday expressed concern at the new acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, urging an coordinated international effort to fight the scourge.
On Thursday, Arab countries overlooking the Red Sea promised to coordinate efforts in the fight against piracy in the region.
Also on Wednesday, the White House said President George W. Bush has been briefed on the problem and the United States is working with other nations to strengthen anti-piracy efforts.
"This is a problem that has elevated to the highest levels of the government," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "It's one that we take very, very seriously and it's one that we are looking to try to find the best solution possible."
However, as the navies of the world are rediscovering, catching pirates on the high seas is no easy task, if not mission impossible, as the desolation and length of Somalia's coastline give them little chance of stamping out piracy.
Moreover, before the seizure of the Saudi-owned supertanker, there seemed to be no strong political will to launch a concerted international campaign against these pirates.
"Right now, it's just cheaper to pay the ransom," says Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine general who ran U.S. Central Command and had led the pullout of U.N. troops from Somalia in 1995.
But with the new hijacking, in which for the first time a supertanker has fallen victim to pirates operating about 800 km off the coast, demonstrating their dramatically expanded reach and capacity, the decision makers may have to reconsider their strategy, he said.
WHERE LIES THE SOLUTION?
However, analysts said that to resolve the problem, just sending more gunboats is not enough, as the underlying problem is Somalia itself, as the existence of a vast ungoverned space in the Horn of Africa provides a haven for the pirates.
Therefore, a long-term solution would also involve establishing stability within Somalia itself.
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, beset by a two-year insurgency and crippling recurrent political infighting, now only controls the capital of Mogadishu and the southern town of Baidoa.
It does not have the capacity to defend and control the entire country and has inadequate or little financial support from the international community to enhance security, said Somalia's U.N. Ambassador Elmi Ahmed Duale.
More than 3,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are currently deployed in Somalia, part of the 8,000-strong peacekeeping mission initially authorized by the U.N. Security Council early in 2007. Other African countries which have pledged to contribute troops are yet to deploy their share.
