Published on May 21, 2012 by Mark Lowe · No Comments Three years on, this July 2009 interview makes interesting reading. For his story on the economics of Somali piracy, Wired contributing editor Scott Carney spoke to one of the ocean-going hijackers. They talked about how to negotiate a ransom, when to kill a hostage […]
Somali fishermen did not get into the business of piracy to make their lives even harder than they were. Snatching luxury and commercial vessels at sea, and holding crews and passengers for ransom, was once a low-risk affair. Because pirate ships are small, they’re difficult to detect on open seas. Western nations and commercial interests […]
Chris Cork The MV Albedo with a crew of 23, seven of them Pakistanis, was captured by Somali pirates on November 26, 2010. As usual the pirates have demanded a ransom, and the deadline for the payment ran out on Tuesday. Somali pirates have killed and severely injured their hostages in the past when applying […]
The war against Somali piracy must be fought on two fronts: battling the country’s pirates and feeding its people. That was the view of envoys from seven countries whose citizens have been held by Somali pirates. The diplomats from Italy, the Seychelles, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania and Thailand were in Abu Dhabi to discuss […]
Saher Baloch After a long wait of 18 months, the families of the Pakistani crew held hostage on MV Albedo by Somali pirates received good news on Tuesday when a business tycoon announced to pay the remaining Rs130 million ransom amount. The 22 crew members were taken hostage on November 2010 and the pirates had […]
By Michelle Wiese Bockmann Insurance costs to pay ransoms if vessels are hijacked by Somali pirates can be reduced by 75 percent if ships employ private armed guards, Seacurus Ltd. said. The London-based marine insurance broker cuts its premiums by that amount, or more if additional security measures are taken on board vessels transiting a high-risk area, […]
Centuries after Blackbeard and his ilk passed into legend, piracy has once again become a major problem with a global impact. Operating off the Somali coast, modern day pirates have become a threat to regional stability, world trade and all forms of maritime transport. As long as the political situation in Somalia remains unstable, it […]
Written by: Jim Kouri A Somali pirate, who acted as the primary negotiator during kidnap-ransom negotiations, was convicted Friday by a federal jury in Norfolk, Virginia, for his involvement in the abduction of Americans onboard a yacht, the S/V Quest. He and his fellow pirates took four U.S. citizens hostage and ultimately killed them before their […]
Published on Monday, 30 April 2012 00:00 Written by AP UNITED NATIONS — Somali pirates took in a record of almost $150 million in ransom last year, but their ship seizures have dropped significantly since mid-2011, the head of the European Union’s anti-piracy fleet said Friday. Rear Adm. Duncan Potts credited the drop in ship […]
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A Somali man was convicted of piracy on Friday for his role as a hostage negotiator in the hijacking of a German merchant vessel and U.S. yacht. The four Americans aboard the yacht were shot to death by pirates, and the crew on the other vessel was tortured to get a […]