Maritime Piracy

Maritime Piracy

[Name of the Institute]

Maritime Piracy

Introduction

Ever since man spread his tentacles to conquer the seas, to develop new means of trade and travel, new challenges stood in his path. International sea lies witness to how man over came the challenges, and being there as a massive body of water has seen great events, some that marked history and some that still remain a mystery. Trade and travel by sea, like any other activity on land or air for that matter, has created certain issues for the governments, traders and travelers of the world. However, of all the so many issues, the most challenging, yet worst happens to be maritime piracy. It had always been a concern throughout the history, however, as time has changed, it is now an international concern, as organizations like world food program and international maritime organization have raised this voice. ("Piracy: orchestrating the response". International Maritime Organization.), ("Hijackings cut aid access to south Somalia, lives at risk" World Food Program). This act of violence at sea has cost shipping companies billion of dollars The coastal regions of Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Yemen and Venezuela are the ones affected. However, the turn of the 21st century has witnessed the coastal region of Africa, mainly the Gulf of Aden as a haven for the pirates.

Discussion

Piracy originating from the Gulf of Aden is rising at a faster pace. The attacks are launched the attacks are launched from the Somalian coasts , over the time Somalian sea bandits have become successful spreading their piracy operations deep into the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea and even the Red Sea, making Somalia a hotspot for pirates. There were a total number of one hundred and eleven attempts in 2008 alone, of which 42 were successful (Fox news, 2009). Piracy activities off the Somali coasts, by the Somali pirates have, by the turn of the 21st century, brought world's attention. The number of attacks in the early months of 2009 was ten times more than that of 2008. (Fox news, 2009). The estimated cost of piracy, in 2011 was $7 billion.

Since 2007, the piracy attempts made by the Somali pirates were brought to the world's attention by the media. Towards the end of 2008, Somali pirates started going for vessels far away from the Gulf of Aden, hijacking ships heading for Kenya. Around that time the pirates became more intense in their attacks, with an increase in the number of attempts, targeting even larger vessels. During 2010, a total of fifty three ships were hijacked with turned out to be fatal as eight sailors lost their lives.

Somali government is currently in a very weak position to gain control of the country against the extremist groups, let alone the piracy situation. The central government collapsed in the year 1991 raising chaos nationwide. The Somalian waters, with rich deposits of Tuna fish and Lobsters, were left unprotected. The country's naval force is in its developmental phase, thus creating a safe ...