By Peter Hannaford on 12.9.08 @ 6:07AM
If the Marines can't help, maybe someone like Blackwater can.
Pirates from the Mediterranean shores of Africa had been ravaging
shipping for nearly three centuries when the United States
Marines stormed a fortress near Tripoli in 1803. That was the
first Barbary War. There was a second a few years later, which
ended Mediterranean piracy. By contrast, there is no end in sight
for the epidemic of modern piracy taking place in the waters off
the Horn of Africa.
The Marines aren't going to land on the coast of Somalia, or
anywhere near it. The U.S. Navy is patrolling offshore; however,
finding pirate speedboats makes finding needles in haystacks a
parlor game by comparison. The Indian Navy destroyed a pirate
"mother ship" the week before last, but luck played a large part.
Last week a Danish Navy ship pulled several pirates from the
water before sinking their craft.
If they are going to actually stop Somalia-based piracy, the
shipping nations will have to settle for virtual Marines in the
form of Blackwater, the North Carolina-based private security
company that has figured in the news in Iraq. Blackwater comes
prepared. It hires former SEALS and other special forces alumni.
The firm owns the 183-foot McArthur, a ship that can
carry two helicopters and high-speed inflatable boats of the type
favored by naval commandoes. It carries 30 guards in addition to
the ship's crew. According to a spokeswoman, the ship's primary
role for client shippers will be to scare off pirates, though its
guards would be prepared to shoot if fired upon.
Once hired by a shipping firm, Blackwater will seek to get
pirates to understand that instant death could be an occupational
hazard of piracy.
Other than patrols of a stretch of ocean four times the size of
Texas by ships from the U.S., India, Russia, and the European
Union, commercial ships in the area are on their own unless they
sign up with a private service such as Blackwater. Almost none of
the commercial ships is armed. The reasons? Partly fear of
increased insurance rates; partly some countries' port laws
prohibiting inbound ships from carrying arms, even in
self-defense. Timidity and jurisdictional uncertainly also play a
role.
The upshot? Nearly 100 shipjackings have been attempted this year
and half have succeeded. The pirates still hold, for example, a
Saudi tanker filled with $100 million worth of oil. They hold the
ships for large ransom which is usually paid -- $30 million this
year. With the money, they build large homes for themselves
ashore and buy ever more sophisticated weaponry with which to
seize more ships. These are not rustic peasants. They use GPS
navigation; are taken to sea on "mother ships," then take off in
light speedboats. They have their own spokesman who gives
interviews via satellite telephone.
The pirates are armed with AK-47s and, often, rocket-propelled
grenades. They throw a line with a grappling hook on to a ships
deck, them climb aboard. In some cases, ships have ladders on the
side of the hull, though all have been warned to pull them up.
Unless a crew member of the victim ship were to step out of the
shadows with an AK-47 to mow down the pirates (which hasn't
happened yet), the prize belongs to these spiritual descendants
of the scourge of the Barbary Coast.
The Marines could probably mop up the pirates' shore bases in
short order, but don't expect this to happen. Somalia, which has
not had an effective government in 17 years, is still being
treated as a sovereign nation. So it looks as if those
international shippers and shipping lines will have to hire their
own Marine Corps -- Blackwater.
(Mr. Hannaford is a member of the Committee on the
Present Danger.)
topics:
Piracy
