Somali Pirates: "Shipping Industry dismisses reports of targeted Somali pirate attacks"

Following up media reports of a "London-based" spy network for Somali pirates (see here), more experts join in doubting that any sort network exists, as in the case of the ICC International Maritime Bureau in

Shipping Industry dismisses reports of targeted Somali pirate attacks:

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in consultation with the International Chamber of Shipping, INTERTANKO and BIMCO, today dismissed a number of recent press reports claiming that pirates off the Somali coast target vessels in advance, allegedly making use of a network of international contacts.

Vessels attacked so far have included a range of vessel types from fishing boats and coastal dhows to bulk carriers and a supertanker. The vessels have been of many diverse flags, crewed by different nationalities, with various cargoes on board destined for a wide range of ports.

Pirates have even attempted to attack naval units mistakenly believing them to be merchant vessels. Pirates target vessels that are easy to board and in their vicinity. If an attack is successfully repelled they move on to another vessel. All the evidence indicates that these are primarily opportunistic crimes. The suggestion that vessels are targeted in advance using shore based intelligence is spurious.

That's not to say pirates are getting info on general ship movements or even on the location of military escort ships, but ....

Somali Pirates: Tactics and Intelligence

With recent reports of Somali pirate intelligence collection (see here and Daniel Sekulich's excellent post on the topic "The intelligence-gathering aspect of piracy") and reports of information sharing among pirates (see here, you might also wonder how those Somali pirates sneak around in patrolled waters? From an email from someone at Gulf of Aden Group Transits, this info:

Pirate Tactics:
-For some time the pirates have been radioing each other about different vessels they see and try to board – most of the “Mother Ships” are not mother ships at all they are scouts!

-In the last 2 months, the “Pirate Flotilla Commander” has changed tactics, hijacking larger dhows for a temporary period with innocent fisherman on them. This works by the pirates setting off in a "mother ship" which usually stays within 100 miles of Somali coast – dispatching skiffs to find legitimate fishing dhows– the pirates then hijack a fishing dhow and use it to take their skiffs to a merchant shipping lane or expected transit zone

-Then they scout or attack a merchant ship, using the captive dhow as a "mother ship."

-The attacked merchant ship calls in details of “mother ship” which, of course, is really a hijacked fishing dhow.

-If the boarding attempt on the targeted merchant is not successful, pirates in skiffs call off their attack and head back toward "mother ship" - but never re-board instead hopping to another dhow for another temporary hijack.

-The Navy eventually arrives and surrounds the original "mother ship" - a slow 6 knot dhow – which has remained on the merchant vessel radar unlike the skiffs which have disappeared.

-A compliance boarding team gets on the suspect dhow and finds – FISH!!!! And usually 1 shotgun or a couple of pistols etc.

-Military helicopter then departs to look for needles in haystacks!!

-The info regarding intel from London involved one particular case of a vessel that was due to go through the Suez canal for scrapping..........! A few people were going to do quite well from it if it had happened but they didn’t bargain on a resilient crew that were on a one way ticket and knew they were getting off soon as the vessel arrived on the beach – they had no intentions of an extended stay in Somalia...!

-Pirate attacks are way down and it's not due to the weather. Islamic Courts may be having an effect in slowing pirates. There was one small attack yesterday off of Mukalla and with 9 pirates in each skiff – they fired RPG at the targeted vessel. This brought a heavy naval response since there are a lot of warships in the area and not much action.

-If lull in pirate activity lasts until monsoon and some naval units leave, then with the end of the monsoon period in August, things could get very active.

A report on an attack thwarted yesterday by a ROK ship and a U.S. ship here:

South Korean and US helicopters have scared off pirates trying to attack an Egyptian ship off Somalia, military officials said Thursday.

It was the fourth time the South Korean naval unit has driven away pirates since deploying last month.

A pirate boat was about 1.8 kilometres (1.1 miles) from the 74,000-ton ship Amira Wednesday when a South Korean helicopter with a team of snipers aboard swooped in, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said.

The team drove away the pirates in a joint operation with a US navy helicopter which arrived later, it said.

Daniel Sekulich sums it up well here:

We're dealing with an asymmetrical form of warfare here, against an enemy that has learned from its predecessors' mistakes. Just like pirates in Southeast Asia, Somali brigands have evolved far beyond some uncouth thugs and need to be combated with a greater degree of efficiency. And one way to do that is to locate, identify and undermine the support structures that allow pirates to stage their attacks.

Somali Pirates: An "intelligence network?" Maybe... but

Are you shocked by this headline? Somali pirates guided by London intelligence team, says report:

It says that pirate groups have "well-placed informers" in London who are in regular contact with control centres in Somalia where decisions on which vessels to attack are made. These London-based "consultants" help the pirates select targets, providing information on the ships' cargoes and courses.

In at least one case the pirates have remained in contact with their London informants from the hijacked ship, according to one targeted shipping company.

The pirates' information network extends to Yemen, Dubai and the Suez canal.
The intelligence report is understood to have been issued to European navies.

I would think any such information is of modest value to the pirates.

First, the courses may be of some use, but some shipping companies put their ship locations, even as they sail, on the web, and most sail very routine routes. The patterns of ship movement through the Gulf of Aden to or from the Red Sea is not all that hard to figure out. The map above comes from a Tamil Tiger friendly website. See the sea lanes?

Second, I have to question the importance of knowing cargoes to the Somali pirates. Since their business is ransom and release, the cargo being carried by the target ship (except for the crew and passengers) seems to play almost no role in deciding which ships to go after.

In my opinion, it is the characteristics of the ships themselves that matter most to the pirates. The pattern shows, as the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence has commented, that ships with low freeboard (easier to access the main deck), low speed, and not near any escorts (my addition) are at greater risk of capture.

As I commented over here:

As noted, there is lots of information on shipping available without conspirators selling it to their piratical co-conspirators, including the old standby methods of getting info from sailors in bars in departure ports or having “fishing boats” at choke points reporting on the passage of likely target ships.

Given the characteristics of the ships being taken (generally, slower, low freeboard, not part of a convoy) I tend to think that the Mark I eyeball, GPS and some comm gear are the biggest aids to the pirate ship selection.

Not that they may also be getting some info out of London, but …

In addition, it’s not like merchant shipping varies its routes very much. The fastest, shortest route is the cheapest route.

The sea lanes are pretty well known. As are the choke points to which the ships funnel themselves as they head to destination ports. Sit on a sea lane and wait for a good target.

If the pirates were in possession of great intel info, I don’t think they’d be attacking military oilers and frigates. Which, as we all know, some of them have done.

On that last point, see here and here.

Possible charges if you catch the perps?

Conspiracy to commit piracy, I suppose, would be one crime that could be charged … see here for a quick look at conspiracy law in the UK (and I defer to anyone with greater knowledge on the topic).

UPDATE: See here for a report on coordination in the pirate attacks.