![]() * As they gained money from ransoms, plus experience, they bought speedboats, tracking devices and more powerful weapons. * In the early days, pirates with a few guns used fishing boats to approach vessels, and then simply tried to scramble on board or throw up ropes. ![]() * Seeing how easy it was to capture ships, those groups metamorphosed this decade into old-fashioned pirate gangs, becoming ever more sophisticated in methods and bold in range. * Toward the end of the decade, local fishermen and militia formed groups with names like the “Somali Coastguards” and the “National Volunteer Coastguards,” to drive away or apprehend the vessels from South Korea, Italy, Spain, Thailand and elsewhere. That led to a wave of illegal fishing, plus dumping of toxic and industrial waste, in Somali waters by foreign fleets from Europe and Asia. * When warlords toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia collapsed into anarchy. So who are these modern-day buccaneers? HOW DID THEY START? ![]() ship captain Richard Phillips, they still hold about 260 hostages, including nearly 100 Filipinos, on 17 captured vessels. The pirates also grabbed headlines last year for the world’s largest sea hijack - a Saudi supertanker carrying oil worth $100 million - and the seizure of a Ukrainian ship with a huge military cargo including 33 tanks.Īway from the international limelight, the gangs have been striking regularly for years. NAIROBI (Reuters) - It took the capture and rescue five days later of an American hostage to draw world attention back to the long-running phenomenon of Somali piracy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |