Last week, the commander of the Indian Navy Frigate INS Tabar reported that they had sunk a suspected Somali pirate ship that fired on them. However, that information has been disputed after it was found the ship that was sunk was not a pirate ship but a Thai fishing trawler. This incident will obviously cause strained relationships between the two Asian tigers. The INS Tabar is the third of the Talwar-class frigates and is armed with supersonic BrahMos (PJ-10) anti-ship cruise missiles. Ekawat Nava 5, the destroyed Thai fishing trawler, had weighed in anchor in Oman and was headed for Yemen to deliver fishing equipment when it was attacked by Somali pirates. The Indian Navy, mistaking the Thai trawler for a pirate ‘mother ship’, opened fire and sunk it. According to media reports, one sailor survived six days after the sinking incident while 14 others remain unaccounted for.

The coasts of the Horn of African nation of Somalia have become hot spots for pirates who have so far hijacked over a dozen merchant ships since the beginning of this year. The international maritime trade along the Red Sea has been disrupted and flow of oil reduced since pirates started wrecking havoc on the free movement of maritime cargo. As reported by media houses, Somali pirates have secured over $150m from ransom paid by owners of hijacked vessels. 

With dozens of western navies around Somali coasts including those of Russia, India, Malaysia and others, still, the Red Sea's major strategic shipping lanes remain volatile. Formerly, before the construction of the Suez Canal, oil tankers and other cargo ships from the Middle East destined for Europe and North America and other parts of the world used to circumnavigate the African continent covering thousands of nautical miles and countless days of sea voyage. The long and torturous ocean voyage around the southern tip of Africa came to an end with the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869. Thousands of workers perished in this massive project which was overseen by construction engineer and Frenchman Ferdinand De Lesseps. The canal is 192 km (119m) long and consists of one lane with four passing places.

The continued hijacking of ships along this route by Somalia's heavily armed and well organized maritime crime syndicate have significantly reduced the movement of ocean liners through the Suez Canal and will tremendously be an economic obstacle for the Egyptian government and for the rest of the world in the near future. Just last week, a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying 25 crew members and 2m barrels of oil worth $100m was seized off the coast of Somalia and is now being held hostage by Somali pirates who are demanding $15m ransom. MV Sirius, as it is called, the Saudi Arabian supertanker is said to be five times the size of an aircraft carrier. Also, according to Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers’ assistance program, Somali pirates are holding their newest maritime victim, MV Amani, a Yemeni-owned vessel.  

While the areas along the Somali coasts ruled by pirates continue to expand and thrive, the rest of the world is experiencing dwindling oil supplies and shortage of other materials in high demand. A few of the correspondents that had access to pirate-held territories have reported seeing massive new infrastructures including gigantic mansions and sprawling neighborhoods, brand new luxury cars, thriving businesses, uninterrupted weddings, and convoys of newly purchased 'technicals'- wagons mounted with anti-aircraft guns. 

With the world eyes on the falling global economy, election euphoria in the U.S. and the war against terrorism, the poor Somali nation continues to deteriorate day by day. Undoubtedly, global negligence of piracy will strengthen pirate activities and perhaps create a new cold war phenomenon. Clandestine military activities along the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea by major powers could lead to a permanent blockade of the Suez Canal.  

On the other hand, the presence of the Russian Navy and her allies along the Eastern rim of the African coast and their continued expansion in the Caribbean Sea could open a power struggle in the not so distant future. The expected naval exercises between Hugo Chavez's Venezuelan forces and visiting Russian Navy warships is already raising eyebrows that could open old wounds. The nuclear propulsion cruiser “Peter the Great”, the anti submarines destroyer “Admiral Chabanenko”, tank vessel “Ivan Bubnov”, and the tug boat “SB-406” docked at the port of La Guairá along the Venezuelan coast on Tuesday ready for naval exercises with the Venezuelan Army.  

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government formed in Kenya by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is already in tatters and showing signs of collapse as the powerful Al-Shabaab militia flexes its muscles ready to deliver the last decisive blows. Somalia's President Colonel Abdullahi Ahmed and his Prime Minister remain at loggerheads while Somali parliamentarians remain stranded in Kenya facing imminent evictions from hotels because of unpaid boarding and lodging expenses incurred. Even if Somalia’s Lame Duck government relocates to its old base of Biadoa, nothing fruitful or worth mentioning will develop except renewed hostilities, massive starvation, and displacement of civilians to be instigated by boisterously remodeled retinue of fattened ‘couch potatoes’ often referred to as parliamentarians who will loquaciously regurgitate irrational nomadic propaganda and innuendos to the detriment of the Somali nation. Until the current TFG is disbanded and a new administration acceptable to the Somali people is created, the Somali problem will remain a clog in the eyes of the international community and peace will remain indefinable thereafter.  

The African Union has failed to meet its expectations as the 8,000 peacekeeping troops said to be deployed in Somalia remain elusive. The withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somali soil as stipulated by the Djibouti charter remains to be seen. The few nations that have peace keeping troops in Somalia will be left with no other alternatives but to embark on troop withdrawals if measures are not taken to reinforce their overstretched peace keeping missions in the city of Mogadishu. Tribal power jostling remains the major obstacle to Somali peace and stability since the collapse of the military junta in 1991. The over dozen reconciliation conferences held by the international community all ended in fiasco and disastrously failed to materialize. 

Therefore, what is now required is a concerted global community effort to stabilize Somalia. It is in the interest of the international community to take drastic action to destabilize international piracy and bring the perpetrators of genocide in Somalia to book. The world should not wait to see a ship laden with dangerous cargo fall into the hands of pirates.

Adan Makina
amakina@kc.rr.com
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