April 28, 2012 - 4:16am By EDITH M. LEDERER The Associated Press
http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/90958-somali-pirates-get-150-million-in-ransoms-in-2011
Somali pirates took in a record of almost $150 million in ransom last year
but their ship seizures have dropped significantly since mid-2011, the head of
the European Union’s anti-piracy fleet said Friday.
Rear Adm. Duncan Potts credited the drop in ship takeovers on the shipping
industry’s adoption of “best management practices,” a significant rise in the
use of private armed security teams on ships, the increasing effectiveness of
the international military effort, and changes ashore in Somalia
There were only three successful Somali pirate seizures in the first half
of 2011, compared to 28 in the first half, Potts said at a briefing at the EU’s
UN Mission.
“That trend has continued into 2012,” he said. “To date this year — and
we’re almost a third of the way through it — we have only had four ocean-going
merchant ships, i.e. those that can command a substantial ransom, seized
successfully by the pirates.”
A year ago, 24 ships and over 500 seamen from around the world were held by
pirates, he said. Today, the pirates are holding seven ships and just over 200
seamen, and of the seven ships, “only three have a reasonable market value for
ransom.”
“After a record year for ransom demands last year, where they got almost $150 million in ransom demands, I think it’s fair to say at the moment that the pirates may be cash rich but they are definitely asset poor — they have very few tradable assets,” Potts said
No comments:
Post a Comment