Somali pirate incidents on the rise

Tom Waldhauser, head of the U.S. military’s Africa Command, attributed the rise in piracy off the coast of Somalia to famine and drought within the country.    Gen. Tom Waldhauser, head of the U.S. military’s Africa Command, told reporters in Djibouti Sunday there has been as many as six incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia over the last two months, following a five-year hiatus, the Wall Street Journal reported.
   Waldhauser attributed the return of piracy to famine and a drought Somalia, and stressed the importance of keeping private security measures in place to defend against pirates.
   “Some of the reasons piracy went down to zero here is because of the security measures the shipping industry has taken,” he said. “We want to make sure the industry continues not to be lax in that.”
   “Somali pirates tend to be well armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, and sometimes use skiffs launched from mother vessels, which may be hijacked fishing vessels or dhows, to conduct attacks far from the Somali coast,” according to the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau.
   “Masters are reminded that fishermen in this region may try to protect their nets by attempting to aggressively approach merchant vessels,” the Piracy Reporting Center added. “Some of the fishermen may be armed to protect their catch and they should not be confused with pirates.”
   Just this Saturday, six armed persons in a skiff chased and fired upon an underway tanker off the coast of Somalia. A distress message was sent and a warship responded. The skiff chased the tanker for nearly two hours before moving away. One crew member was injured.
   Meanwhile, on April 15, around five to six pirates armed with automatic weapons in a skiff approached and fired upon an underway tanker in the Gulf of Aden. A warship in the vicinity was informed and the team onboard returned fire, resulting in the pirates aborting the attack and moving away. The tanker and its crew were reported safe.
   The Piracy Reporting Center has highlighted various areas around Africa and the Red Sea, Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, and South and Central America and the Caribbean Waters as high risk for pirate attacks.