Word: somali
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...eight minutes." Describing the passage through pirate-infested waters, he adds, "Every few minutes there's a false alarm, and the stress levels are stratospheric. The 37 hours it took to transit the critical 10- to 12-mile stretch was the longest time of my life." (See pictures of Somali pirates...
Despite the successful operation to free the captain of the Maersk Alabama last weekend, Somali pirates continue to hold 16 ships with a total of 282 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy-reporting center, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Filipinos comprise nearly half the captives; a majority of the rest are from India, with smaller numbers from other South and Southeast Asian countries. In all these countries, sailing is seen as a tough but lucrative profession that fetches handsome dollar incomes relative to the amount of education required. Even amid the present economic gloom, officers' salaries have...
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...
Weapons are one of the largest single costs that Somali pirates have. According to a book on AK-47s from Amazon, the guns cost about $345. That is a total of $173,000 because each of 500 men is armed. The price for 9MM pistols on the black market runs about $200, for a total of $100,000. Browning 50 caliber machine guns are $14,000 each, with at least one per raider and two per mother ship for a total cost of just over $1 million. Rocket propelled grenades which are used in most raids...
Based on annual costs with pro forma calculations for things that have a life of more than a year, the expenses of operating the Somali pirate operation are $79 million. That puts the profit of the operation at over $120 million. It is worth contrasting that to the average income per capital in Somalia which is only about...