Who are the Somali pirates?

Somali pirates have seized a Bangladeshi ship carrying 23 crew members in the Indian Ocean two days ago.

The vessel MV ABDULLAH was en route from Mozambique to Dubai, navigating through a low-risk area. However, Somalian pirates expanded their network and hijacked the ship, according to officials.

This is the second time a Bangladeshi-flagged ship has been seized by Somali pirates since MV Jahan Moni, on its way from Singapore to Europe with 25 Bangladeshi crew on board, was attacked near the Lakshadweep group of islands in the Indian Ocean in 2010.

Over the past three months, there has been more piracy in the Horn of Africa region than at any point in the last six years, reports CNBC citing the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

The rising piracy around the Horn of Africa is adding to concerns for shipping vessels, government forces and private security already locked in a battle in the Red Sea with Houthi rebels.

Pirate capital

Eyl – an ancient town sandwiched between the blue warm waters of the Indian Ocean on one side, and the rolling Nugaal mountains on the other – is known as Somalia's piracy capital, reports Al Jazeera.

This once well-to-do town has fallen on hard times. With the seas empty of fish because of toxic waste dumping and illegal fishing by foreign trawlers – and the soil too rocky and barren to support farming – residents have run out of ideas on how to support themselves.

For many here, piracy was the only way out – the one path they could take to defend their ocean, and the little left in it.

Everyone in this town of some 20,000 residents has been affected by piracy – and the world's response to it.

How did they start?

When warlords toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia collapsed into anarchy. 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.

Towards 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.

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.

How do they operate?

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.

As they gained money from ransoms, plus experience, they bought speedboats, tracking devices and more powerful weapons. Typically these days, a "mother ship" first spots a target, and a couple of speedboats are then launched to approach the vessel on either side and board with hooks and ladders.

Pirates sometimes fire shots over the bow to scare sailors. Often, boats will try defensive action like zigzagging in the sea or even spraying the pirates with water from high pressure hoses. Most vessels, however, are unarmed, in keeping with international maritime practice, so sailors normally surrender quickly once the pirates are on deck.

Hostages say they are generally well treated, with the pirates viewing them as common men caught up in a wider game: the pursuit of million-dollar ransoms from owners. Some have described the pirates slaughtering and roasting goats on board to feed them, and passing round satellite phones to let them call loved ones back home.

The other side of Somalia's pirates

More than 1,300 young Somali men have been jailed in prisons abroad for piracy since 2005. Most have been sentenced to life in jail.

The US State Department told Al Jazeera in 2015 that more than 1,400 "pirates and suspected pirates" were in courts or in prisons in 21 countries.

Those who have family members in prisons abroad are calling for them to be repatriated so they can serve their sentence in prisons in Somalia. That way, they say, they can at least maintain relations.

Ocean piracy rising across the world

According to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the anti-piracy measures in place to enforce the freedom of navigation off the coast of Somalia expired quietly after its latest renewal for three months after 3 December 2021, reports the CNBC.

Since last November, merchant vessels have been the target of about 20% of Somali piracy-related incidents, according to Dan Mueller, lead analyst for the Middle Eastern Region for maritime security firm Ambrey. 

Data from 2023 shows that by many key measures, piracy is on the rise in key global shipping lanes.

There were 120 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships reported in 2023, compared to 115 in 2022, as per the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). 

The IMB also found increased threats to crew safety, with the number of crews taken hostage rising from 41 to 73 in 2023, and crews kidnapped from two to 14.