This week, Somali pirates mounted in speedboats captured the 318,000-ton, Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star off Kenya. The capture of the Sirius Star, laden with two million barrels of oil and now anchored off Eyl- a sort of Somali pirate town- is the latest and boldest hijacking made by the increasingly prolific Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean corsairs. Looking at photos of the gigantic tanker, the circumstances almost seem absurd.
And while no vessel under American flag has been hijacked in the last year’s Somali piracy rampage, the interruption of the Saudi-US oil trade represents just as compelling a warning bell to America: we have wrung our hands over the vulnerability of the Saudi oil industry to terrorist attack, as well as the strategic risks of transporting oil- our mechanical lifeblood- in and out of the Gulf and Red Sea. The capture of the Sirius Star represents both events simultaneously.
Ian W. Toll’s comprehensive and masterfully written book, Six Frigates, tells the story of how the American navy- today the world’s most powerful- came to be. The book, which draws heavily on primary source, explains the fierce political debate between pro-navy federalists like Adams and anti-navy Democratic-Republicans like Jefferson. The former viewed a central federal government as an essential feature of American sovereignty, and considered the protection of American trade to be a responsibility of the government that warranted the use of force, when appropriate. The latter was highly skeptical of centralized power and untrusting of a national government given free-reign to build and maintain a military.
But in the beginning, Adams and Jefferson, old friends and later political rivals, were united. In 1785, the American merchant ships Maria and Dauphin were seized by Algerian pirates, and their crews imprisoned. At the time, Algiers was one of the Barbary States that included Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco; these nation-states not only sponsored piracy as an official policy, but also relied heavily upon the tributes (bribes) that their piracy extorted from victimized nations.
Adams wrote to Jefferson and said that he believed America could take the fight to the Dey of Algiers if it invested itself completely, but that he doubted American citizens could stand such talk of renewed and extended war. He suggested that the tribute be paid. Jefferson thought otherwise: “It would be best to effect a peace through the medium of war. 1. Justice is in favor of this opinion. 2. Honor favors it. 3. It will procure us respect in Europe, and respect is a safe-guard to interest.”
The Algerian crisis of 1794 renewed discussion of building a blue water navy (forward deployed, cruising open ocean) and the decision to create a naval arm was passed into law in March of that year. And while the feud between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans would prioritize and then sideline America’s new navy as each party battled for control of the government, by the end of Jefferson and Adams’ lives, the US Navy would prove its relevance, helping bring the Barbary States to their knees, compelling the French to reduce the piracy of their privateers and warships during the Quasi War, and later in the War of 1812, identifying the need to better protect American shipping from the massive Royal Navy, then the world’s best, operating with impunity.
The US Navy was created to protect American citizens and shipping from pirates. Will it return to that role again soon?
Piracy, while illegal, represents a major influx of foreign capital into Somalia, a country that is too unsafe for exporters and even NGOs, thus leaving Somalia’s legitimate industries in atrophy and its humanitarian crises in neglect. And while pirate ransoms are untaxed, substantial duties are believed paid to Somali government officials, making it an unofficial but essentially sanctioned business, despite the fact that the Somali government does prosecute and lock up some pirates.
What can the world do about Somalia’s piracy problem? I believe there are four things:
Patrol
Just as the USS Constitution was dispatched to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping in the early 1800s, countries trading through the Red Sea and Indian Ocean will increase naval patrols to deter pirates from attacking and may increase hunting and capturing pirates. A combined task force (CTF-50), made up of European and American warships, is already in the Gulf of Aden area and the US military is also running the Joint Task Force in Djibouti (JTF-HOA).
Recently, a Danish warship captured some armed pirates but released them (without their weapons) upon realizing they had no authority to prosecute, and last month, French marines patrolling the Gulf of Aden arrested some pirates who they turned over to the local authority.
Contract
The way the pirates attack is by sneaking up at night, boarding with ladders and grappling hooks, and holding the crew at gunpoint. In the case of the Sirius Star, with a $100 million cargo that could cause a phenomenal ecological disaster if dumped, the stakes are even higher.
Contracted security guards should be fairly successful at repelling boarding parties with use of machine guns, optics, and other sensors, though I suppose the deployment of heavily armed forces on civilian shipping might butt up against international maritime law. But companies like Aramco, with $220 million at stake per laden supertanker (not to mention the crew), might find the cost and legal risk well worth the investment.
Indeed, a quick internet search reveals that Blackwater has already announced its availability to help secure merchant shipping.
Attack
After pirates captured a French yacht this spring and demanded a ransom for its owner and crew, the French military tracked the pirates and then sent commandos ashore to arrest them. Today the BBC reported that the Indian Navy ship INS Tobar sunk a Somali pirate vessel that threatened to blow up the Tobar.
In the absence of a stable government with the ability or resolve to shut down piracy, will foreign nations pursue pirates at will, on the shores of Somalia?
Tribute
America chose to fight the Barbary States but we may well choose to increase “aid” to Somalia, knowing full well that some of that money will go into the pockets of government officials or warlords in exchange for the suppression of piracy. This is the carrot approach and we’ve used it to pay all kinds of unsavory people, most notably Sunni ex-insurgents who used to attack Americans all over Anbar province, Iraq.
I believe countries with vested interests in the region will use a combination of all of the above. The best way to end Somali piracy however, would be a solution that benefits Somalis and foreigners alike: a rebuilding of the Somali government and economy. Diplomatically, we should make these the top goals of our interactions with Somalia. Militarily, we should put our professional, exceptional blue water navy to use protecting international shipping lanes.
Further Reading: BBC: Tanker anchors off Somalia NYT: Somali Pirates Telegraph: Pirates drive up shipping costs Telegraph: UK seeks arrest authority BBC: French capture pirates (4/08) BBC: French capture pirates (10/08) BBC: India sinks Somali pirates Wired: Blackwater to fight pirates Six Frigates