Word: ransoms
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Phillips brought the end of a crisis, but it may be the beginning of a longer military effort. This year pirates have attacked dozens of vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, which leads into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Egged on by generous ransom payments, they're holding more than 300 sailors hostage. Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, was the first one taken off a U.S. vessel. A Red Sox fan, a family man, a good-humored snowboarder, a pillar of his Vermont village who had the courage to offer himself...
Rather than governments trying to ban ransom payments - which could be futile - Costa suggests trying to choke off the flow of money pirates and kidnap gangs receive. "They may move some of their money offshore, using the hawala [underground banking] system and through third parties, particularly in financial centers where shipping companies are located." Costa and Clinton have also said that shipping and insurance companies should work on developing Somalia, rather than simply paying ransoms - a suggestion that insurance brokers reject. "It's not down to insurance companies to promote peace in Somalia," says Cooper Gay's Regester. "That...
...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 Co. Ltd. in London, which writes about two-thirds of the world's kidnap-and-ransom insurance policies, known in the industry as K&R. In fact, insurance companies never pay ransoms themselves...
...Gates' reasoning is unlikely to deter many companies, which simply cannot afford to lose hugely valuable vessels and cargo to seaborne bandits. Indeed, insurance premiums have risen along with the ransom amounts, according to Regester, who estimates that coverage for a single voyage through the Gulf of Aden costs about $20,000. With shipping companies hard-hit by the global downturn, some opt simply to take their chances running the gauntlet of pirates, rather than pay insurance premiums. "I reckon less than 10% of vessels are insured now," says Regester. "K&R policies are considered a luxury." Whether...
Since companies aren't likely to stop paying ransoms, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday told reporters that the State Department was working with shipping and insurance companies to "address gaps in their self-defense measures," in the hope that they can avoid being seized in the first place. Clinton's strategy announcement came days after U.S. Navy SEAL snipers killed three pirates who were holding Richard Phillips, the captain of the container vessel Maersk Alabama - the first U.S.-flagged ship to be seized off Somalia. The last-resort military rescue plan was put into action after ransom negotiations had broken down...