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That sounds like a scene from an action movie, but in the Gulf of Aden it is legal business practice. That's because the pirates are regarded as criminals, rather than terrorists, under U.S. or international law, which bans money going to individuals or organizations listed as terrorists. Unlike in, say, Iraq, Somali pirates appear to have little interest in killing hostages who are seized along with vessels, and the crews are usually released with the ships when the ransoms are paid. "Paying ransoms is not illegal," says Guillaume Bonnissent, a special risks underwriter for Hiscox Insurance...
...European officials insist they don't pay ransoms to pirates. And why would they? Shipping and insurance companies now routinely pay ransoms of millions of dollars, dropping sack-loads of cash from airplanes into the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, despite assertions from politicians back home that the money is fueling the rampant piracy...
...with the Obama Administration's newfound determination to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden, many people expect things to improve. "This is definitely good news," says Goyal. "Hopefully someone will come to the rescue of poor countries' sailors." On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced steps including tracking and freezing assets of pirate gangs, and pressing Somali authorities to shut down pirate land bases, while also calling for a greater global response to secure the release of ships still held in the region. So far, there is little coordination between the various navies patrolling the area, which...
While international attention was riveted on the Gulf of Aden, a Singapore-registered tugboat in the South China Sea was attacked by pirates on April 7, a reminder that piracy is happening elsewhere in the world as well, underlining the need for a global response. "An American captain freed is a good example," says Nair of NUSI. "But if it remains an isolated, incidental event, it will mean nothing. Now the Somali pirates have threatened revenge; they may become more active...
That kind of terrorism may be turning many would-be sailors away from a lucrative career. After 13 years and three trips back and forth across the notorious Gulf of Aden during his last stint onboard, Vikas Kapoor quit the merchant navy last year. "It's anyway a hazardous profession, what with rough seas and accidents and homicide. Now this piracy and criminalization of sea lanes ..." he says, adding, "It's crazy out there. There'll be hundreds of big and small boats, and it's impossible to tell who's a pirate...