Africa’s shipping industry might take a major hurting as a result of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Within recent years since the Tsunami disaster, pirates along the coast of Africa have been hitting convoys more than ever as most of them are inadequately unguarded. Most of the piracy has taken place off the coast of Somalia where ships have to pass through those waters. Without an adequate form of protection, those convoys are left open to pirate attacks.
Summer of 2005, pirates hijacked the MV Semlow which sailed from Mombasa in Kenya to Bossaso in Somalia. It is said that the waters of Somalia coast are some of the most dangerous of the world. The pirates consist of about over fifty men that make up a militia as Somalia is without a functioning government since 1993. They have been attacking ships sailing along the coast attacking all sorts of ships. A transitional government would be in Kenya around 2004 but it had failed.
Piracy had spiked. Several months later that same year, pirates tried to attack a luxury cruise liner. It was a small group of pirates trying to attack the ship. But the crew was well prepared to fend off against the pirates. The coasts of Nigeria and Somalia are amongst some of the number one hotspots for pirate attacks. There were fourteen attacks off the coast of Nigeria.
In terms of African shipping industries in the twenty-first century, the United Nations might outsource aid to businesses from other countries as the crew members might be more trained. The governments of other countries might have to go down to those areas and train the crew members to fight off against pirates. But who knows how it will affect the African shipping industry.
One would have to be familiar with international business law. If it was an American shipping company that transported the aid and relief, they’d be in the clear if they incorporated as a limited liability company. A friend and business associate explained to me that US shipping companies are better off incorporating as an LLC in case their cargo gets stolen by pirates at sea.
Asides from affecting the shipping industry, it will affect Africa in general as people affected by warring and natural disasters will not get the needed aid. Aid provided by the world governments were stolen by militia groups throughout Africa as a means to purchase weapons, ammunition, and explosives. In a sense, it will slow down the stabilization of the African continent. At the same time, it will hurt the chance of Africa eliminating its debt.
It affects the entire world as our tax dollars actually go to that aid. The world of piracy has definitely changed. My JROTC instructor back in high school said that pirates still exist. If you’re going into international or foreign waters, you have to be trained to use firearms and you must have firearms on your ship in order to fight off pirates long enough for help to arrive.
As pirate attacks are stronger and more intelligent, the shipping companies let alone from Africa need to be more intelligent. And they’re going to need government help.