They were called successively buccaneers, buccaneers, or quite simply hackers. They prevailed during centuries on all the seas of the sphere: Jules itself was captured off minor Asia into 75 before our era, then released against ransom, and Pumped made itself famous while cleaning the Mediterranean of the Sicilian hackers.

By Michel www.mdmarines.com

With the pleasant authorization of LARGE Directing Foundation for strategic search 27, street 5013 Paris - FRANCE

However here of return, at least in certain seas and with modern means: historical records were beaten at semi November with the capture of the tanker Star, a giant of the seas 710 909 tons, eters length), launched a few months earlier for the account of , and which was in charge of illion crude barrels - a third party of the production of Saudi Arabia. Significant fact, the tanker was taken by storm by high-speed motorboats heavily armed embarked on board a “flagship” which had dispatched them up to 450 thousand of the coasts in open sea, in the south-east of the Kenyan port of . Previously, on September 25th, other hackers had travelled by as an hostage the Ukrainian cargo , charged with weapons, including 33 tanks of Russian manufacture. Because of the importance of this cargo, the American #8C2A1D undertook to frame the ship which remains held with broad of the Somali port of . It for that dismantled its antiterrorist “task force” which crosses for a long time in the gulf of Aden and the sea of Oman.

Sign international disorder, maritime piracy remained practically unknown during the years of cold war; it remains it still today in the “organized” areas, such as the North Atlantic and the Western Mediterranean, where only two incidents are reported: a yacht burglarized in the wearing of Oporto in Corsica last August, an attempt of the same kind - but thwarted - in Liverpool the previous year. Even in Asia, the protection measures taken as from 2005 by the Coastal states of the strait of Malacca (where 30% of the world commerce forward, of which 9,illion crude barrel each day) led to a strong fall of the acts of piracy in this area, and the same applies around Singapore. Only Bangladesh remains regarded as an area at the risk, with many attacks in the roads of and its approaches.

It has been in any case in the areas of nonright that piracy developed the most strongly these last month, primarily in the gulf of Aden and off Somalia, in prey for seventeen years with a civil war and without central government worthy of this name.

More than 90 ships were the subject there of attacks in 2008: it is only one small portion from the 90 700 to 30 530 ships which forward in the area each year, but all the same the double of the announced incidents the previous year. In addition, the climbing was geographical at the same time as technical. Piracy prevails now either only in the ports or against ships with damping in roads - the most frequent case still - but in an area much broader and with more important means. On the acts made into 2008,36, that is to say more than one third party, resulted in the capture of the ships and their immobilization during long periods, demands ransom and, generally, impunity for the hackers. France is one of the rare countries to have captured some, initially the culprits of the abduction of the sailing ship Ponant last April, then ten of other hackers in September.

With the difference of hijacking, maritime piracy is neither political nor ideological.

Admittedly the islamist ones had there recourse sometimes (as to Yemen, with the attack against an American warship), but it is primarily the fact of hackers “to old” driven by the only lure of gain. It is also less fatal: the crews end up being released after variable times (a few weeks or a few months), generally against poured ransoms more or less discreetly, but without main issue: the cargoes of the pirated ships represent for the ship-owner and the owner an important value, and the immobilization of the ships a cost much higher than the required sum.

That constitutes a stimulant for the criminals, but at the same time this type of piracy is relatively easier to fight. It is supported by no government all over the world, not even by the ghostly “authorities” of Somalia. For little that a of any country is in trimmings and threatens to intervene, the hackers do not insist and disappear, as that occurred with various recoveries these last weeks. Still it is necessary that the national marines put the means at it. It is the case for Europe, which, after launching by NATO of the operation (three ships Italian, Greek and British), comes to start at broad Horn of Africa the operation , strong of seven ships with the support of aircraft of air patrol. Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and France (already present in the area with its basis of Djibouti) will take part in it, officially to escort the ships of the World food program (PAM) bound for Somalia, in fact also to prevent any act of piracy in general. It is a first in several connections: initially by the deadlines record of startup (the force must be operational at the beginning of December), then by the participation of the United Kingdom in an operation carried out within the framework of the European Policy of security and defense , which had given place up to now only to terrestrial operations. It is besides the British admiral Jones which will take of it the command starting from its basis of , the tactical command being entrusted to official Spanish.

Other States were declared laid out to fight against maritime piracy, and it is to be provided that this threat will be decreasing progressively by the precautions taken, as that was made, at a quite higher cost, for the terrorist threat, at least in Europe and North America. Until the appearance of other threats and other challenges… More

O See a worldwide card of all the maritime cases of piracy in 2008, and the same card for 2007.

O The official statement of the EU of November 10th on, her average soldiers and his legal aspect.

O The operation of NATO .

O Consultings of the Quay of on maritime piracy.

O Two Resolutions of the Safety advice on the subject: (June 2nd, 2008) and 1838 (October 7th).

O A British report on piracy in Somalia.

O The Convention of the United Nations on the right of the sea.