Combating Piracy Forum

• Main Forums
• Special Interest Forums
• Support Forums

1. Jim Nicoll - Member

   MY COMMENT:
   This is coming close to double the figures normally stated.

   Somaliland Sun- Friday, 17 February 2012 23:09

   An estimate of 3,500 Somalis work as pirates, attacking and hijacking vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, according to Wayne Miller, an official from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

   Speaking at a conference in London, Miller who is based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said the number of Somalis who have turned to piracy is greater than the 2,000 figure commonly cited in counter-piracy campaigns.
   His estimate was based on talks with pirates in Somalia last November, when the end of the monsoon season typically sees attacks rise, Miller said.

   He said there are an estimated 1,000 Somalis in custody in about 20 countries, adding that Somalis want help in getting rid of what’s destroying their country.

   The UN office’s counter-piracy program, which began in 2009, spans six countries with a mandate to support the detention and prosecution of suspects, according to it website.

   Somali pirate attacks rose to a record 237 in 2011, with ransoms worth $160 million paid to release 31 hijacked vessels, according to a One Earth Future Foundation report released last week.

   About 42,450 vessels pass through the region annually, the foundation said. Of these, 23,000 transit the Gulf of Aden carrying $1 trillion of trade, the U.K. government estimates.

   Piracy cost the shipping industry and governments $6.9 billion last year, including $2.7 billion in extra fuel to speed up through the area and $1.27 billion on military operations, according to the foundation.
   Bar Kulan

   Posted 2 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.