SEVEN INDIAN crewmen from a UAE-owned ship seized by Somali pirates are still being held hostage despite the payment of ransom. For the first time, pirates have reneged on a ransom deal since they began capturing ships off the Somalia coast six years ago. The ransom was paid and the ship released, but without the six officers and one seaman. The 4,000-tonne vessel had been en route to South Africa last September when it was seized about 100 nautical miles off the coast of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
The remaining eight crew of the MV Asphalt Venture, including the captain, are in control of the ship anchored off the Somali town of Harardhere. One of the pirates, who identified himself as Ahmed, said they had been paid a $3.6-million ransom but kept seven crew hostage in retaliation for the capture of 120 pirates by Indian authorities in the past few months. “We have taken some of its Indian crew back because the Indian government is currently holding our men. We need the Indian government to free our men so that we can release their citizens,” he said.
Pirate hijackings worldwide claimed 1,181 hostages and 53 vessels, a rise of 10 per cent since 2009. Of these, 49 ships were taken by Somali gunmen in the Red Sea or nearby waters in the Indian Ocean. Somali piracy has been the biggest problem despite an international fleet of warships trying to stop it. Somalis have taken four more ships so far in 2011 and currently hold 31 ships and 713 people captive.
On March 14, 2011, defence minister A.K. Antony, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, stated: “As per the International Maritime Bureau, the number of ships hijacked from January 14, 2008 till March 11, 2011 is 174. Piracy on the Somalian coast is a global menace and has in recent times moved eastward as well as southward. Sporadic incidents have been reported off Lakshadweep. Further, in a recent joint operation of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, Indian forces intercepted two vessels in January-February 2011. These were hijacked Thai vessels. forty-three pirates and 44 fishermen of Thai/Burmese origin were handed over to the Mumbai police. In another case, Iranian Dhow AL Javaidi with four Iranian and 15 Pakistanis was apprehended off Lakshadweep and handed over to the local police at Kavaratti. No Indian soldier has been lost during the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The government has deployed one Indian naval warship in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy patrol since October 2008 and more than 1,500 ships have been escorted. The presence of the Indian Navy in the area is to protect our marine trade and instil confidence in our sea faring community. Unmanned aerial vehicles are regularly deployed for surveillance close to the coast. Due to reports of rising incidents of piracy, surveillance has been increased in the Indian Ocean region. Although there are arrangements for EEZ surveillance, India has not concluded any treaty with any country for joint patrolling”.
Indian Navy and Coast Guard captured 16 Somali pirates after a three-hour-long battle in Arabian Sea on March 27, 2011. 16 crew members were rescued from the hijacked Iranian trawler off Lakshadweep islands, which the pirates were using as a roving base to launch attacks on passing vessels in the Indian Ocean. One of the ships sent a distress message that was picked up by the Indian Coast Guard. The pirates opened fire at the coast guard ship as it drew near, triggering a battle during which the pirate trawler caught fire.
Vice-admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, FOC-in C, Western Naval Command, while interacting with this daily, had stated, “A more aggressive approach needs to be taken against Somalian pirates who have shifted from the Gulf of Aden to Seychelles and are expected to enter the Red Sea also. The Indian Shipowners Association when approached with the suggestion to employ ex-soldiers to resist piracy attacks like other countries, said that government has restricted carrying of arms on board their vessels. In view of the expanding reach and resources of pirates, ships must be protected.”
He further explained: “Dhows mainly owned by Dubai-based Indians and Arabs, with Gujarati and Pakistani crew, operating in the Gulf between Oman and Somalia and often carrying essentials like rice, cooking oil, flour etc. for Somalia, are routinely attacked by Somali pirate gangs, sometimes owing to intra-gang rivalry. These dhows are used by the pirates to conceal themselves, either to launch a piracy attack or when they expect to be intercepted by naval or Coast Guard ships sailing through or patrolling the waters. Advice to Indian dhow owners and crew to keep off these waters is futile as it is a question of their livelihood.”
The Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, turned extremely dangerous for commercial ships following attacks by Somali pirates. India is among several countries, including the US, Britain, France, Iran, South Korea and China, who have sent warships to patrol the seas to prevent attacks.
The Indian Navy itself has thwarted a number of attacks and also assisted other countries in the same. On February 7, 2009, the Indian Navy sent one of its frontline warships to the Gulf of Aden on anti-piracy operation joining a guided missile frigate, INS Beas, already patrolling the seas against pirates in the region. In 2008, INS Tabar was successful in repulsing pirate attacks and sinking one of the pirates’ “mother ship”.
In early 2009, the Indian Navy, while countering Somali pirates, found Pakistan-branded small arms in their possession.
On April 28, 2009, a Russian warship apprehended 12 Pakistani nationals along with Somali pirates attempting to attack a tanker off the Somalia coast. Further investigations revealed details and names of Pakistani nationals playing the leading role in Somali piracy activities. Given the links between Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT), both active on high seas and Pakistanis actively involved with Somali pirate gangs who are using Pakistani weapons, there is every possibility of LeT’s Karachi Project (with solid support from the Pakistan Army and Navy) extending its objectives to the Gulf of Aden for further anti-India activity.
The United States is reported to have suspected Islamist terrorist activity in Somalia since the late 1990s, but it was after 9/11 that the state department placed Somalia on its list of states that sponsor terrorism and began efforts to eliminate Al Qaeda operations there.
According to the National Defence University , pirates operating on their own and with support from extremist members of the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia have been able to launch some very deadly attacks against Western and African interests.
In January 2000, the Al Qaeda attempted to ram a boat loaded with explosives into USS The Sullivans in Yemen. The attack failed only because the boat sank under the weight of its lethal payload.
In October 2002, Al Qaeda suicide bombers in a speedboat packed with explosives blew a hole in the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and another explosives-laden boat hit French oil tanker Limburg off the coast of Yemen. In February 2004, southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for an explosion on a large ferry that killed at least 100 people. In June 2002, the Moroccan government arrested a group of Al Qaeda operatives suspected of plotting raids on British and U.S. tankers passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Al Qaeda itself vowed to protect interests in Somalia. In January 2007, its deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called for guerrilla resistance against the Somali government. In a video titled, “Set Out and Support Your Brothers in Somalia”, Zawahiri exhorted Muslims, especially those in Yemen, the Arab Peninsula, Egypt, North Africa and Sudan, to participate in a holy war against secular government forces in Somalia. “You have to use ambushes and mines, and raids and suicidal attacks until you rend and eat your prey as the lion does with his prey,” he ranted.
Because naval vessels have been able to stop some attacks near the Somali coast, pirates have moved operations further into the Indian Ocean where they are harder to catch. Non-monsoon months provide opportunity for pirates to launch attacks even further away from their bases and approach their prey on relatively calm seas. Other problem areas include Nigerian, Bangladeshi and Indonesian waters.
Somali pirates claim they have been forced into piracy because their fishermen have been pushed out of work by illegal fishing by foreign vessels and illegal dumping of toxic waste by big corporations.
For ensuring safety of Indian ships from piracy and Indian crew members being held hostage, the government needs to boost its diplomatic efforts and formulate a policy of permitting all merchant vessels to employ former navy and Coast Guard personnel appropriately armed to resist piracy threats.
Anil Bhat, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi