Somalia region sends soldiers to free hijacked ship

“The master confirmed that armed men were on board his ship and they were demanding a ransom for the ship’s release”, said the organisation on Tuesday.

Attacks by Somali pirates have dropped significantly since 2012, following an global naval effort.

For years, it appeared that the world’s efforts to combat Somali pirates had paid off.

“The men who are holding it claim that they are fishermen who suffered from the illegal fishing in the area. If this one was to be successful, possibly with ransom money, other pirate groups might try the same thing”, Steed warned. And shipping companies took extra precautions, including putting armed guards on their vessels, which calmed nerves in the industry and kept pirates off their boats and out of the headlines. Somali piracy had been effectively contained, by naval forces applying pressure.

Since the Horn of Africa is part of a major maritime route, there was never a shortage of targets, and piracy bloomed until 2012 when the combined efforts of global navy fleets and the shipping companies, which strengthened the defense of their vessels by employing armed guards, seriously dampened hijacking activities.

Aircraft from regional naval force EU Navfor were flying overhead to track the ship’s progress and to try to determine what was happening, but the only known information is that the ship was anchored off Alula. They operate outside a country’s territorial waters.

“Today, it is organized crime.”

Worldwide naval patrols and anti-piracy measures on commercial ships have practically eradicated Somali piracy since its peak in early 2011.

The pirates reportedly cut off communication lines after getting on the oil tanker but the EU Naval Force confirmed through a statement that they had made contact with the captain.

“A local fisherman may be out there with a fishing rod, whereas a fishing vessel can drop a big net and eventually messes up the ecosystem”.

Why did they come back out of the blue?

Mohamud Ahmed Eynab, district commissioner for Alula town in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said on Tuesday that a day earlier “the pirates hijacked the oil tanker and they brought it near Alula”. One theory, he said, is that a clan opposed to the president of Somalia’s Puntland region encouraged the attack on the Aris 13 to promote the idea that the area is poorly governed. “In addition to the 41 seafarers who remain in captivity as of the release of this report, the thousands of seafarers who have returned to their regular lives after being held hostage must address the challenges of reintegration and coping with their experiences”.

But attacks fell sharply after ship owners tightened security and vessels stayed further away from the Somali coast.

Lawellin argues that pirates took advantage of the more lax environment.