Experts credit bad weather for decline in East Coast piracy

Piracy along Africa’s East Coast may have declined during 2012, but the situation is still far from under control. While the various multinational naval efforts, increased security measures by ships, and developments on land in Somalia have contributed to the decrease in attacks, piracy remains a big threat to trade along the African coast. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the number of ships signalling attacks by Somali pirates fell in 2012 to its lowest since 2009, but it warned that seafarers should continue to consider the waters around Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea as high-risk. Professor Henri Fouché of the department of criminology at the University of South Africa told FTW recently that many believed the attacks were down in Somalia only because of the weather in 2012. “The weather was particularly bad in 2012 and the monsoon season definitely did impact on the number of attacks, but even so pirates were operating all the time. No one really knows what to expect, especially in light of attacks being on the increase on the West Coast.” The probability exists that better weather could see pirates returning to the East Coast waters in full force in 2013. Worldwide pirates killed at least six crew and took 448 seafarers hostage during 2012. In November figures tallied by IMB Piracy Reporting Centre showed 125 vessels were boarded, 24 hijacked and 26 fired upon. In addition, 58 attempted attacks were reported. The drop in Somali piracy did bring down the global figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea to 233 incidents. “In the first nine months of 2012, there were 70 Somali attacks compared with 199 for the corresponding period in 2011. And from July to September, just one ship reported an attempted attack by Somali pirates compared with 36 incidents in the same three months last year,” said a spokesman for the IMB. Fouché and other experts, however, maintain it is too early to declare a win over piracy along the East Coast seeing that at least 11 vessels and more than 180 crew members are still being held hostage by Somali pirates. “How long the naval vessels are going to be active along the East Coast is an open question in light of the economic crisis,” said Fouché. “We are foreseeing a downgrade and withdrawal of at least some vessels. The various strategies deployed have undoubtedly resulted in fewer attacks. One must just not forget that the situation is one that is fragile and can quickly reverse itself.”