Piracy off Somali coast a growing global headache

Charges vary from Sh1,000 to transfer Sh100,000 within East Africa to Sh2,000 to transfer Sh260,000 to Dubai. Recognised financial institutions charge as much as Sh10,000 to transfer the same amounts.

Investigators say this system of money transfer not only abets piracy but also hampers investigations by countries tracking proceeds from drug-trafficking, arms-smuggling and terrorism activities.

Denied reports

Somali MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh denied reports that proceeds from piracy were being laundered in Kenya, saying investigations indicated that none of the Somalis who had invested in the country had links with pirates.

Another MP, who sought anonymity, named Puntland in Somalia, Djibouti and unidentified Western countries as among those benefitting from piracy.

“These pirates are well-connected and some work with mafias and other international criminals who supply them with arms through countries like Yemen,” the MP, who was in Nairobi for a recent Igad meeting, said.

The pirates, he said, were organised into three groups: those with military tactics who launch the first attack; educated ones with technological know-how who use satellite phones and computers to communicate with owners of the ships and demand ransoms; and those who collect the ransom. Former fishermen who understand the waters help them navigate routes.

Lucrative business

Mr Ashareh said piracy erupted in Somalia in the 1990s when Somalis organised themselves to fight fishermen from Western countries who were fishing in Somali waters.

Once they had this under control, some of the Somalis resorted to hijacking ships and found it to be lucrative. Now, maritime experts warn that for as long as ship owners continue to pay the huge ransoms demanded, piracy will continue to thrive.

Mr Ashareh called on the international community to help the troubled country establish governing institutions to curb piracy, saying the Somali Transitional Federal Government urgently needed help to establish court systems, and police and coastal guards.