Somali pirates change tactics to avoid capture

Small vessels again serve as mother ships because they are harder to detect at sea

LONDON – Somali pirates are switching back to using smaller cargo and fishing boats as mother ships, hoping to evade detection as maritime security is stepped up to foil their attacks on merchant vessels, industry and navy sources say.

With the prospect of ransoms worth tens of millions of dollars, Somali pirates continue to threaten vital shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Over 20 years of war and famine have worsened prospects for Somalis, adding to the appeal for many young men of crime on the high seas.

Armed gangs had started using large merchant vessels – including tankers – that they had seized as mother ships, forcing crews by gunpoint to do their bidding. The tactic, employed aggressively in 2011, enabled them to operate further out at sea.

But vigorous action by navies, including pre-emptive strikes, have cut attacks, forcing pirates to adapt their model.

“We are seeing a change in tactics,” said Joe Angelo, managing director with Intertanko, an association whose members own the majority of the world’s oil tanker fleet. “They are now hijacking smaller dhows and they are using them as mother ships, which is making them less suspicious.”

Traditional dhows, used by fishermen and general merchants in the region, were first deployed by Somali pirates before they started using larger captured vessels.

The larger vessels enabled gangs to operate for longer periods at sea with more supplies and in harsher weather conditions, as well giving them more flexibility when launching their high-speed attack craft known as skiffs.

“The tactic of using larger commercial vessels as mother ships has died down recently as dhows are more effective; they are essentially camouflaged among the huge numbers of genuine fishing boats and dhows carrying cargo locally off the Horn of Africa,” said Rory Lamrock, an intelligence analyst with security firm AKE.

“Weapons and ladders can be easily jettisoned overboard whenever naval forces approach, making it difficult for navies to disrupt.

“When a larger vessel gets hijacked for use as a mother ship, it is usually well reported and naval forces and commercial ships in the area will be on the lookout.”

Data this week f rom the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) watchdog showed attacks involving Somali pirates in the first quarter of this year had slid to 43, from 97 in the same period last year.

The deployment of private armed security guards and greater use of pirate deterrents such as razor wire and heightened monitoring watches when entering danger areas by crews on board also helped curb Somali attacks.

“While the number of 2012 incidents and hijackings are less ... it is unlikely that the threat of Somali piracy will diminish in the short to medium term unless further actions are taken,” the IMB said.

A study published in February by U.S. non-governmental organization One Earth Future Foundation showed Somali piracy cost the world economy $7 billion last year.

The total paid in ransoms reached $160 million, with an average ransom for a ship rising to $5 million, from around $4 million in 2010.

Ship industry officials said pirates were attempting more diverse attacks and were pushing further into the northern Gulf of Oman to prey on areas not so heavily patrolled.

“I personally believe what is going on are random acts where they can be successful,” said Intertanko’s Angelo.