Pirates build communities?

Well, I know it has been some time since my last post, and I apologize for going from a fairly current blog to one with stale posts, but life got busy.  Things are returning to normal, and I hope to be back into the swing of things here shortly.

During my hiatus, a lot has happened in the Maritime world.  Pirate attacks rose drastically, Russia sent several large naval vessels on a transatlantic voyage for Venezuela (the first since before the end of the Cold War) and the rapidly declining global economy is beginning to impact shipping companies around the world in a very negative way.

I hope to explore each of those topics over the next few days, and also hope to bring even more current news to your desktop.

In the meantime, I highly suggest you read this Navy Times article concerning the ongoing situation off the Somali coast with the Ukrainian cargo ship, the M/V Fania, which is loaded with Russian military equipment  bound for Sudan.  It has captured the global media, and is a highly charged situation due to the nature of the cargo involved and implications for the naval forces present should anything go wrong.

For the first time that I’ve seen, the authors of this article explore how a group of bandits from a less than third world country can stand ground against a plethora of modern naval ships and weaponry in such close proximity. The article reveals part of the hidden microcosm behind piracy, and the tactics pirates use to build support in the small communities of Somalia, including promising to build new schools and roads.

Interesting.  With the shear value of the ships and respective cargo they are holding hostage currently, they should have some fairly decent communities shortly.  This doesn’t even account for the value of the ransoms they are demanding.

This most recent slide from the NATO Shipping Center which provides near daily updates on the status of the piracy situation near Somalia gives a visual representation as to the success the pirates have enjoyed.