Word: shippings
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...next largest expense is buying and keeping "mother ships" in good working order. The boats are usually trawlers which are, based on photos, about 100 feet long. One or two of these have been sunk by foreign navies, but they do not have to be replaced often. A large trawler built in the 1970s costs about $1 million. A trawler that is ten years old costs closer to $3 million. Some of the trawlers the pirates use were probably seized during their raids. Most research indicates that one out of three attempts by the pirates to hijack a ship succeeds...
Each mother ship works with four or five attack vessels, which are not unlike WWII PT boats, but are made of light-weight metal or composite instead of wood. Each of these has to run on two or more turbo diesels which put out 480 HP at 3,000 PRM. These are not engines which are likely to be used on any of the hijacked ships so they are probably one of the largest direct costs the pirates have. If the pirates operate 50 raiding boat it requires 100 engines. These cost as much as $15,000 each...
Based on 24/7 Wall St.'s evaluation of news reports, the Somali pirates are seizing near one ship per day now. This week, on a single day, they took over four vessels. Even though several large national navies including the US are policing the shipping channels to cut down piracy, the rate at which the pirates can grab prey is picked up fairly fast. The Somali pirates could take over between 80 and 120 vessels this year, and the figure is conservative. That would put their gross revenue as high as $200 million...
...celebrating over Sunday's daring rescue of Richard Phillips, the ship captain held hostage by Somali pirates, didn't last too long at the Pentagon...
...growing piracy problem highlights Gates' smarts - it was only a week ago that he boosted the Navy's buy of the small and fast Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) from two to three next year, with a total planned buy of 55. The defense chief termed the LCS a "key capability for presence, stability and counterinsurgency operations in coastal regions." With its ability to sail into shallow waters, an LCS vessel can chase pirates into places bigger warships could never go. The LCS is "an ideal platform" for unconventional Navy missions, including "counterpiracy operations," Rear Admiral Victor Guillory, director...