Patrol Somali waters
YET ANOTHER ship has been hijacked in the Indian Ocean waters off Somalia.
YET ANOTHER ship has been hijacked in the Indian Ocean waters off Somalia.
The Kenyan freighter that had a Ugandan among the crew was the second aid ship to be taken by pirates in a few weeks. Somali pirates had just freed a ship that had been held for 100 days.
Piracy is a throwback to the unruly days of old when bandits ruled the seas. But because seas are now international waters in which territorial stakes are subordinate to international commercial and security interests, piracy had virtually been wiped out worldwide.
But Somalia is a different kettle of fish. A dysfunctional country, the only one in the world in which there is no firm central power, Somalia is fractious, with different militia holding sway in little bits and pieces of territory.
The international community, though, has taken a firm interest in pacifying the country, and has sponsored a government in exile that is trying to establish itself at home, and is cobbling together a peace plan that would include sending in foreign peacekeepers.
This is fine, but it is all limited to the mainland. Somalia has a long coastline that runs for hundreds of miles from the tip of the African continent at the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to the equator. Such large expanses are very inviting to banditry in a lawless country. Yet the United Nations, whose food aid was hijacked, and international commerce, has an interest in pacifying these waters.
The latest hijack took place about 100 miles off the coast. This could spread even deeper into the Indian Ocean, endangering one of the world’s busiest sea-lanes. It is therefore in the interest of the international community to effectively patrol these waters and deal decisively with the pirates.
The Kenyan freighter that had a Ugandan among the crew was the second aid ship to be taken by pirates in a few weeks. Somali pirates had just freed a ship that had been held for 100 days.
Piracy is a throwback to the unruly days of old when bandits ruled the seas. But because seas are now international waters in which territorial stakes are subordinate to international commercial and security interests, piracy had virtually been wiped out worldwide.
But Somalia is a different kettle of fish. A dysfunctional country, the only one in the world in which there is no firm central power, Somalia is fractious, with different militia holding sway in little bits and pieces of territory.
The international community, though, has taken a firm interest in pacifying the country, and has sponsored a government in exile that is trying to establish itself at home, and is cobbling together a peace plan that would include sending in foreign peacekeepers.
This is fine, but it is all limited to the mainland. Somalia has a long coastline that runs for hundreds of miles from the tip of the African continent at the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to the equator. Such large expanses are very inviting to banditry in a lawless country. Yet the United Nations, whose food aid was hijacked, and international commerce, has an interest in pacifying these waters.
The latest hijack took place about 100 miles off the coast. This could spread even deeper into the Indian Ocean, endangering one of the world’s busiest sea-lanes. It is therefore in the interest of the international community to effectively patrol these waters and deal decisively with the pirates.