Piracy - part 2

Having written a piece back in 2008 I thought a follow up might be in order regarding piracy as a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then.

The old high risk area (courtesy of Latitudebrokers)

Like I wrote then, piracy has never been extinct and incidents still happens around the globe, the areas and methods just change and sometimes it is more terrorism than piracy. This is still the case. 

Robberies or pilferage in port still occur and are also rated as piracy attacks but it is like that in most ports there are opportunists and if one is not vigilant they will come onboard and take what they want, sailors has throughout time been too trusting and gullible in foreign ports and left doors open. Not so much so these days with the ISPS code in force, security has become a much more valued commodity.

The occasional old style piracy incident still takes place down in SE Asia, in the waters of South China Sea, usually in Philippines/ Indonesian waters. One good example is the case of Petro Ranger that was hijacked by Indonesian pirates in 1998 with $2.3mil fuel cargo onboard that was sold in China. 

Pirates usually tend to take both ship and cargo and issue fake certificates and trade on as a "ghost ship" as the press coined them. This is becoming less and less because of the connectivity everywhere, reports come quick and are distributed very quickly everywhere, even to the remotest outposts so faking it is not making it anymore.

Then came the Somalian scourge, many ships were hijacked, most likely in coordination with grey eminences in their ivory towers. Ransom negotiators were hired who then adjudicated the release of the ship to the tune of millions in dollars and months of delay. Armed guards were put on the transiting vessels by default, this was also to keep insurance premiums down or actually a requirement of the insurance companies to issue cover.  

The shipping community responded with declaring the Somali basin a high risk area (HRA) and a coalition Navy force from many countries patrolled it helping merchant ship convoys through to the Red Sea and onwards East. In their heyday Somali pirates were seen as far as Maldives and they even one time tried taking on a Indian Navy frigate.

Many attacks were repelled, pirates captured and their ships sunk and finally they got ashore and took out the pirates at their villages pre-emptying them even getting out to sea. Finally the message got through and there were years without any incidents off Somalia. I was lucky passing along the Yemeni coast in summer 2022 with a 14m sailing catamaran and saw several fishermen but was never boarded or saw any threatening activity. In January 2023 the HRA was removed due to the piracy inactivity.

The lull of peace was short lived as the war in Ukraine vs Russia and Israel vs Palestine broke out, the Houthi rebels of Yemen started kicking off because of what was happening in Gaza strip to their Muslim brethren. It also appeared they were run by proxy of the Iranians who supplied them with Russian technology. The merchant shipping was again attacked, this time from ashore. 

There was no need to employ khat chewing pirates to do their bidding with Kalashnikovs and RPG's but they employed helicopters, missiles and drones to perpetrate terror along their coast from the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb to Hanish Islands. To date merchant ships have been sunk, some have survived with gaping holes in their superstructures and some were detained. Seafarers died. New monikers were invented for weapons such as "roaming ordnance" meaning drones that go into holding patterns above and wait for their prey and then they guide another missile to their target. 

The Western coalition hit the Houthis with missiles and bombs as good as they could but they are highly mobile and pop up where needed and disappear as quickly as per the news outlets. Then the Somali's realized what was happening and they also ventured out to sea and did their best, attacks were again reported on the Indian Ocean high seas off the Somalian coast. In 2024 there was reported 116 incidents world wide to IMB.

Now in January 2025 with the ceasefire in force in Israel and Palestine, the Houthis have released one detained vessel and their crew and also promised to cease their activities against the merchant shipping. The Navy coalition still patrols the Indian Ocean against piracy. In 2022 when I called Djibouti I saw several warships in port. Lets hope things start cooling down, making seafarers jobs less risky.

The west African piracy region (courtesy of Latitudebrokers)

Meanwhile the drama off East Africa has taken place the piracy off West Africa has kept steady and basically the whole armpit is a pirates nest with the center in Nigeria. There the most common crime is oil theft, cargo is taken by force and transferred to other tankers. 

As a footnote to this, after the Russian war in Ukraine started and sanctions were put in place there is a new trend. It is not piracy but an equally dodgy subject, "the shadow fleet". Russian owned ships evading sanctions and transporting oil worldwide where they can still get business. The ships are flying questionable flags with certificates and insurances not worth the ink they're printed on and crews with equally questionable certificates and talents. With sanctions in place they can't get spare parts to service the ships properly, they are already old and becoming potential high risk disasters roaming our oceans.

These days advice against piracy is offered from the links below:

https://www.maritimeglobalsecurity.org/risksissues/piracy/

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sea-river-and-piracy-safety

https://icc-ccs.org/piracy-map-2025/

The publication called best management practices 5 (BMP5) is also available for download for those intending/ planning to transit high risk areas.