Anil Patil, Commodty OnlineMUMBAI : So far the Indian government thought the piracy across Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean is not an Indian problem and super powers will deal with it effectively.
But suddenly it is realizing to the fact that not stopping the Somalian pirates from looting not only the Indian ships but ships owned and operated from other countries will lead to a major crisis for Indian maritime business.
It seems the PMO was informed very late by intellectuals that 85% of India's sea trade on the route is carried by foreign-owned ships and almost half of India's total fleet of 900 cargo ships deployed in international waters are at risk on the route. Millions of dollars worth of India's sea trade passes through this route.
A repercussion on any delay in action was something that India could not afford. India reacted sharply and claims it has escorted more than 35 ships and aborted not less than 3 attempts of piracy and in one case sinking a vessel carrying pirates.
But who are these pirates and how did piracy originate here?
Piracy in Somalia is not a cottage industry but a highly organized, lucrative, ransom-driven business allegedly aided by some unknown powers from some glass chambers in a developed country.
Somalian waters are rich with Tuna fish which is in short supply elsewhere. Large trawlers looted the Tuna fish from here without any permission since Somalia had no authoritative government since 1991.
The fishing mafia took advantage of the chaos that prevailed in Somalia and it remained a flourishing industry about 10 to 15 years ago when Somali fishermen armed and stopped the illegal fishing.
They were bribed by the trawler owners with small sums and later with large sums. This was when entrepreneurial Somalians realized they could do this to hundreds of ships moving around Somalian waters and demand ransom.
They hijacked all the vessels that came through including oil tankers and UN chartered food ships carrying food items to poverty and famine struck African nations.
A lethal combination of local fishermen with great skill and knowledge of the sea, ex-militiamen with precision knowledge of weapons and technical experts who operate high-tech equipment such as the GPS systems made piracy easy.
These pirates get most of their weapons from Yemen, but they can also get from their own territory since a civil war is already on and procuring weapons from war lords is not a difficult task.
If Saddam Hussain or Osama Bin Laden led the pirates, the US would have reacted fast and furious. But for the US, entering pirates’ territory is tricky.
Very few knows where the ransom, which runs into billions, goes though the pirates have officially claimed it is used to feed for themselves and their family.
But the money which can make the Somalian government to self sustain is not a small amount just enough to feed a few pirates and their families.
On October 7, 2008 the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution calling on nations with vessels in the area to apply military force to repress the acts of piracy.
If India fails to take leadership in stopping piracy into the most lucrative business, then India’s exports and imports will suffer.
So the Indian Navy’s response to the pirates was something that was shot with love. Brutality will follow.
