What you don't know, but pirates
of the Red Sea do
Firas Shamsan
A journey with Yemeni fishermen to face the
pirates
by Firas Shamsan for the Yemen Times
8/june/2009
It is the distance between three
equal dangers, either to drown,
become a hostage in the hands
of a pirate, or to be the target of
the international maritime
forces.
The burning sun is no longer the
biggest concern of Yemeni fishermen
who everyday tackle the waves with
their ancient wooden boats. The sun
which burns their complexion guides
them every morning toward the sea,
the only source of their livelihood.
The real danger consists in 180 maritime
mile which separates the Gulf of
Aden from the Somali coast where
piracy is on the rise against both international
trade ships and small Yemeni
fishing boats.
Recently, Yemeni fishermen have
made national and international headlines
as victims of the international
maritime forces, who claimed that they
suspected that the Yemeni fishermen's
boats belonged to pirates.
But how did Yemeni fishermen
become pirates? The answer was disclosed
by the fishermen themselves,
who explained that many times they
have been kidnapped by Somalis
pirates, who use the fishing boats to
attack commercial ships.
Khaled Omar, the senior assistant of
the captain on a fishing boat carrying
about eight fishermen, explained that
pirates usually use a nine meter-long
fiberglass boat.
"Each fiberglass boat carries eight
pirates armed with machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenades," said
Omar. "The fiberglass boats are very
small compared with the ships they
seize, so pirates seize the Yemeni fishing
boats to use them in piracy."
According to Omar, the pirates take
the Yemeni fishermen hostage, forcing
them to wander the sea using their
boats until they achieve their goal. The
pirates then released the Yemenis after
having held them captive for hours or
even days.
"During this time, the pirates threaten
the fishermen with death if they
refuse to carry out their orders," said
Omar.
Official reports say that nine Yemeni
fishing boats have been seized by
pirates in the Gulf of Aden since the
beginning of 2009.
Yemeni fishermen are accustomed
to moving in the regional water to fish
in a "nakhoda," a medium-sized fishing
boat. These boats cost YR 5-15
million each, which fishermen pay to
obtain a livelihood.
Based on the season, fishing ground
changes from Yemeni regional waters
to the border with Somali waters. They
seek out areas where the catch is best.
Nowadays, the best fishing spot is in
the Gulf of Aden where they can find
shark.
However, Omar confirmed that the
threats of pirates have prompted many
fishermen to refrain from fishing as
pirates use them as human shields and
their boats to seize large commercial
ships.
“We are not allowed to carry arms at
sea,” Said Omar. “If the government
finds any weapons with us on board, it
prevents us from working for at least
three months and we are fined YR 1
million. But as our boats are not bullet
–proof, a single bullet can cause the
boat to sink.”
Fishermen demand that the government
allow them take weapons with
them to defend themselves against
pirate attacks. They say that these
demands came after they lost hope that
Yemeni Coast Patrol Authority would
be able to protect them while fishing in
Yemeni regional waters. However,
Yemeni maritime laws don’t allow
fishermen to carry weapons and those
who violate the law are subjected to
imprisonment and fined.
Asked whether pirates the routes
and schedule of the targeted ships,
Omar said that some Somali reports
said that there is a network of spies
who watch the movement of the targeted
ships.
A Kenya-based maritime organization
has estimated the number of
pirates up and down the Somali coast
at about 3,200 individuals in three
groups.
Most of them worked in the Somali
Coast Patrol Authority in the past. In
addition, a number of Eritrean pirates
are also present in the regional waters
off the Somali coasts. Most pirates are
stationed in Puntland, a semi-independent
region in northeast Somalia,
where the port of Ail reportedly the
main stronghold of pirates.
Pirates not the only threat
Last May, local newspapers reported
that six Yemeni fishermen were killed
and several others injured in when two
Yemeni boats were separately hit by
international forces on suspicion of
being pirates.
"We receive complaints from fishermen
saying that they were insulted by
the international forces who searched
their boats, took their mobile phones
and other equipment." said a source in
the Yemeni coastguards. "Some of
them saying that they even were beaten
by these soldiers."
In a report released last December,
the United Nations (UN) group monitoring
the 1992 arms embargo on
Somalia included a paragraph on piracy,
alluding to the growing financial
ties between Somali pirates and criminal
entrepreneurs in Yemen.
The UN report said the NATO
Shipping Center had identified five
ports along the Yemeni coast, which
were serving as re-supply stations for
mother ships belonging to Somali
pirates.
Mother ships are usually hijacked
fishing trawlers or merchant vessels,
used to tow the speedboats needed to
attack slow-moving ships sailing in
open waters.
Nearly 20,000 ships pass through
the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to
and from the Suez Canal. Seven percent
of world oil consumption passed
through the Gulf of Aden in 2007,
according to Lloyd's Marine
Intelligence Unit.
A few dozen warships from the
United States, the EU, NATO, Russia,
China, India, Iran, Japan and Malaysia
are positioned in the international
waters to protect their interests and
partake in anti-piracy missions
The Swedish navy on Monday handed over to
Kenya seven suspected Somali pirates arrested
in the Gulf of Aden, police said. The seven
pirates had tried to hijack a Greek merchant
vessel in the lawless waters off Somalia on
May 26. "The suspects tried to attack MV
Antonis, which was sailing from Europe to Asia
before the Swedish navy patrolling along the
Gulf of Aden arrested them," Ayub Ali Gitonga,
chief of police in the Kenyan port of Mombasa
told reporters. They were flown on a chartered
flight from Djibouti to Mombasa, but their trial
will take place in Malindi, a coastal town, 130
kilometres (80 miles) north of Mombasa.
Gitonga said the trial venue was moved due to
congestion at the Mombasa prison where other
pirate suspects are being held. The Swedish
warship HMS Malmoe responded to a distress
call from the MV Antonis, which said it was
under attack from pirates using
rocket-propelled grenades. The Swedish vessel
is taking part in an international anti-piracy
drive in the waters off Somalia. Sweden has
had three corvettes and 152 personnel
patrolling the Gulf of Aden since May 15 as
part of a European Union force, which is
running an anti-piracy naval mission off
Somalia. Seven suspected Somali pirates who
attempted to seize a foreign vessel in the Gulf
of Aden last month denied the piracy charges
in a Kenyan court on Tuesday. The suspects
who were handed over to the Kenyan
authorities on Monday by Swedish Navy were
arraigned before Malindi Magistrate Beatrice
Jaden but denied attempting to hijack MV
Antonis at the transit corridor within the Indian
Ocean. "The suspects attempted to hijack the
MV Antonis on May 26 in the Gulf of Aden and
were arrested on the same day. They were also
found in possession of illegal weapons," State
prosecutor Alexander Muteti told the
magistrate. Muteti said the suspects who
landed in Mombasa aboard a chartered plane
from Djibouti jointly attempted to hijack the
vessel while armed with pistols, a knife, an
AK47 rifle and a rocket propelled grenade
(RPG). He consequently opposed the suspects
being released on bail saying the suspects
who were not represented by a lawyer, could
jump bail since they were not Kenyan nationals
Muteti urged the court to take cognizance of
the escalating cases of piracy off the coast of
Somalia and the potential risk such acts could
bring to the east African nation and the
international community. "If released, the
accused persons are likely to go back and
continue with the same activities," Muteti said.
However, the accused persons asked to be
given five days to get advocates to represent
them and declined to respond to the State
Counsel's application. They said they were
caught in the Red Sea but not in the Indian
Ocean as alleged. The case will be heard on
July 16 and 17. The seventh accused person
14-year-old Abdi Adan Abdulkadir was
remanded separately. The handing over of the
suspects brings the number of those being
tried in the country to 81. A month ago, 11
suspects who mistook a French naval vessel
for a commercial ship and tried to attack it
were charged with the offence in Mombasa.
The suspects approached a French frigate MV
Nivose which is deployed by the European
Union to guard and escort commercial ships in
the pirates infested waters off Somalia coast
preparing for an attack, but were shocked to
discover it was a naval ship.
Pirates have continued attacking commercial
ships in the Indian Ocean off Somali waters
despite the presence of navies deployed by the
international community under the banner of
the European Union
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