Almost everyone knows about Somali pirates. They can be safely called the most famous modern robbers who hunt at sea. Their raids on ships in the 2000s were discussed by almost all the world's media. The maritime trade suffered billions of dollars in losses. But in 2013, all of a sudden, information about the pirates disappeared. What happened to them and how calm is it in the Gulf of Aden today?
1. Facts from history
Somalia, in essence, has a history that is characteristic of many African countries of the last century. The once Anglo-Italian colony became an independent state in 1960. Nine years later, in 1969, a coup took place and a military dictatorship was established in the country.
M. Barre, who headed the state after these events, acted correctly in that situation. He made a statement that socialism would be built and, accordingly, received the support of the Soviet Union, whose specialists were engaged in the modernization of Somalia. Industry and agriculture were established in the country, hospitals and schools, roads were built. As a result, the population of the impoverished state had a hope that everything would be fine.
But the happiness did not last long. Barre, for a reason only known to him, decided to fight with Ethiopia, friendly with the Soviet Union, thus losing the support of the USSR. Of course, the regime had no chance to survive on its own. A civil war broke out in the country and by 1991 it was divided into parts. Then chaos followed, which is quite predictable.
The Europeans could not miss a tidbit and appropriated the resources and minerals available in Somalia. Ships of other states caught fish in the sea, and transported toxic substances and hazardous waste to Somalia. In wartime, no one could do anything about it. The result was not long in coming. The fish left the water area, and with it the population lost its last source of food. In order not to die of hunger, people began to conduct criminal activities: the slave trade, drug trafficking, piracy.
2. Now about the pirates
Pirate activities have had a positive impact on the lives of Somalis. The cities located on the seaside were rapidly growing richer. Even something similar to the stock exchange has appeared. People had the opportunity to invest for the benefit of the filibusters' team and receive a certain percentage of their income. Millionaires also appeared here. One of them was Hasan Abdi. He started out as an ordinary raider, and became the leader of many pirate organizations and a businessman.
The strategy of pirate attacks did not differ in variety. On boats, pirates swam up to a ship of another state and fired warning shots, thus forcing the captain of the ship to surrender. As for the income, the robbers had it at the expense of the ransom of the people they took hostage. This is not to say that the prisoners lived so badly while the companies were preparing a ransom for them. They were placed on the shore, where they calmly consumed local alcoholic drinks and food, got acquainted with the local culture.
Give the pirates their due. They did not plunder the goods, which only increased the value of the product. Wealth went not only to them, but also to insurance agencies, security organizations. The Somalis managed to get out of poverty, albeit at the expense of others. But politics did not leave people alone here either.
3. Under the guise of Sharia
Since 2004, the Somali pirates have been under the cover of Harakat al-Shabab, an Islamist organization. This is a youth union of the country, which decided to unite the state, put an end to anarchy and implement Islamic laws. Naturally, pirates with their activities did not fit into this picture. But they received patronage, since they paid five percent of their own income. The Islamists, in turn, supplied them with weapons and allowed them to use the ports under their control.
By 2011, the organization managed to unite most of the territories of Somalia. The Europeans did not like this order of things, since the extraction of resources went out of their control. As a result, Somali government troops, supported by American aircraft and the Kenyan military from al-Shabab, recaptured all the cities. The pirates lost their support. It was then that Al Nahyan, a family of sheikhs from the UAE, began to act actively. The base of their fortune was the production of oil and its sale. Pirates, on the other hand, hijacked their tankers from time to time.
Until that moment, the Arabs were afraid to resist the pirates. But now they have used the services of a private American firm, Blackwater Academy. It took the mercenaries less than one year to destroy the corsairs. The control shot was the Putland police (naval unit). Its funding fell on Al Nahyan.
Thus, the region was freed from pirates. Since 2012, an oil tanker has been hijacked only once. Well, the Somalis are again experiencing hunger and continue to wage internal wars. But there are no problems in the ocean.
It will be no less interesting and useful to find out why the pirates wore earrings in their ears.