A good little article, and Jason was able to get some more input on this from the various experts and legal eagles out there, so bravo to him. This article also mentions the fact that pirates just hijacked some Thai boats some 1,200 miles from the coast of Somalia. That is pretty impressive, and this is an indicator to me that these guys are looking to expand their hunting grounds. My prediction is that we will see a slow and steady increase in piracy incidents, as their reach and as their competency in the task increases.
I posted a deal about Somali training companies and the flood of recruits for the piracy companies, and one thing to remember with this kind of business is no one joins a pirate company to not succeed. These are thinking human beings, and they are students of their industry. Their drive is profit, and of course they are going to do whatever they can do to increase their chances of success. They are like whale hunters, seeking the most profitable areas of the sea, that has the most and easiest whales/boats to take down. They are having to compete against other pirate vessels, and the game is to avoid the naval patrols and get the easy take downs before the other guy does.
And everyone wants that ransom money. That is what they are all fighting for and dream about. Wait until they figure out how to sell the goods on the boats, or pool their money to build a dock in Somalia to handle all of these ‘big fish’? lol –Matt
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Are pirate ransoms legal? Confusion over US order
By JASON STRAZIUSO
April 21, 2010
NAIROBI, Kenya — Shipping companies with U.S. interests don’t know if they are allowed to pay ransoms to Somali pirates anymore after President Obama declared them an “extraordinary threat,” even as pirates extended their reach farther than ever toward Asia, hijacking three Thai vessels, officials said Tuesday.
A total of 77 crew members were taken Sunday in the hijackings 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) east of Somalia in the Indian Ocean — the farthest from the Somali coast pirates have ever attacked, the EU Naval Force said. Pirates now hold 14 vessels and 305 hostages, the International Maritime Bureau said.
Pirate attacks have risen over the last year despite increased patrols by U.S. and European warships, in part because the multimillion dollar ransoms keep rising.