RIHLA # 20

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1. The focus has changed to southern and eastern coasts of Somalia, but they still hijack hundreds ships, by small boats filled with armed man, gain control, steer it back to pirate base, and demand a ransom from the ship owner. They then have the ransom dropped off usually by small plane and drop a brick of shrink-wrapped cash and have it drift down by parachute to the pirates.

2. Piracy has changed from earlier times of exploration in the way that they do not have as much power as they used to. The number of captured ships and crew members has sharply reduced from a few years ago. Also, their focus has shifted to southern and eastern coasts of Somalia, where officials are not as commonly seen. They also now use electronics, heavy weapons, large oceangoing ships, and faster attack crafts. Piracy also started about 15 to 20 years ago as a response to illegal fishing, in the country’s tuna rich waters after the government collapsed in 1991. The Somali fisherman took the law into their own hands and confronted the fishing boats and demanded that they pay a tax.

3. The creation of the Puntland Maritime Police Force was sponsored by United Arab Emirates and Erik Prince, and the antipiracy army was abandoned by their sponsors. They were left half-trained and well-armed to fend for themselves. The members had the choice of joining the pirates or Qaeda- linked militants or sell themselves to highest bidder in Somalia’s clan wars. Lastly, the European Union, hit via helicopter then later toughened their antipiracy mandate to allow forces that patrolled Indian Ocean to attack bases in Somalia, before that they were allowed to pursue pirates only by sea.

4. No I do not think that piracy is justifiable because stealing is never right, nor is it right to gain wealth by taking what others have, and endangering people’s lives or taking them as captives.

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