Despite some success by multinational anti-piracy task forces, Somali pirates had a ‘field year’ in 2009, netting well over US$50 million and placing a final stamp on their presence by capturing two vessels days before 2009 ran out of steam. In the wake of a US$4 million, helicopterdelivered ransom for the release of a Chinese-owned bulk carrier captured on October 18 while en route with a cargo of coal from South Africa to India, and the December 28 release, for an unspecified ransom, of a PIL vessel, Kota Wajar, came news of further Somali piracy successes. First they seized the UK-flagged tanker, St James Park, the first to be hijacked in the Gulf of Aden (off the Somali coast) for nearly six months, while sailing from Spain to Thailand. Three hours later, a Panamanian carrier was seized off the Somali coast, accounting for 45 crew (between the two vessels) now held hostage. The EU Naval Task Force confirmed the latest incidents increased the number of attacks off East Africa/Gulf of Aden to 214 by the end of 2009 – 47 vessels seized of which 12 ships and 263 crew remain in the hands of the pirates.
