Somali pirates have seized six merchant vessels since April — Fortune

Somali pirates have seized six commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean since April. The increase in attacks comes amid a concentration of U.S. and other countries’ naval forces in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, Fortune reports.

Attacks amid fleet redeployment

As of August 22, six vessels had been seized since April. Politico had previously reported on at least three tankers carrying oil and fertilizers seized during that period, as well as the July seizure off Yemen’s coast of a vessel carrying chemicals.

Brett Erickson, managing partner of consulting firm Obsidian Risk Advisors, told Politico that, in his view, the pirates took advantage of the redirection of U.S. resources to the Middle East. According to him, it is a “very, very lucrative business,” while the risk of a U.S. response is now lower because substantial resources are engaged in the region.

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Pressure on shipping

Erickson noted that Somali piracy has become another source of pressure on shipping companies already facing other threats in the region. In his view, pirate attacks alone may not cause a fundamental disruption to global shipping, but their impact is amplified alongside other risks.

According to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, 41 recent incidents had been recorded in the Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz as of August 25. Reuters reported that fewer than 20 cargo vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend ending August 24.

Smaller scale than the previous crisis

The current wave of attacks has not yet matched the peak of Somali piracy in 2005–2012. At that time, pirates carried out more than a thousand attacks, and ransom payments exceeded $400 million. During the worst period, annual losses to the global economy were estimated at $18 billion. The threat was contained through international maritime patrols involving NATO, the EU and the Combined Maritime Forces, which includes 47 countries.