The French Navy Feeds Somalia

We don't see enough stories like this. The French Navy is getting positive press for their efforts to deliver food to Somalia through the World Food Program. They deserve it, it amazes us that it took so long to get this done. We note there are several things changing in the region though, with US ships recently being allowed to chase pirates in Somalian waters the struggle to solve the piracy issue off the east coast of Africa is starting to take a turn for the good.

Before the French Navy took over the responsibility of escorting ships carrying relief supplies from Mombasa port to Somalia, WFP’s humanitarian activities had nearly ground to a halt.

Shipping companies that were involved in transporting the relief supplies started withholding their vessels after pirates targeted some of them.

Apart from hijacking the vessels and detaining the crew, the pirates demanded ransoms running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The increased piracy pushed insurance premiums to an all time high resulting in increased costs to shipping companies and higher costs to WFP in chartering ships.

What caught our attention was the French will be concluding their mission in February, and will be replaced by the Danes.

He said the French Navy contingent would continue with its mission to escort vessels carrying relief supplies to Somalia until February when they are expected to hand over to the Danish Navy.

That is news to us, but hardly surprising. Naval humanitarian efforts tend to score domestic headlines that serve the purpose of supporting the fleet, and we note that the Danes have had their own ships hijacked off the African coast by pirates, so their Danish Navy is no doubt ready to get a bit of payback.

We should note that fighting piracy doesn't pay anymore, at least not like it did centuries ago for nations looking to provide security to their commercial shipping, but there is still an economic cost worth preserving. Note the term "insurance premiums". Those not familiar with maritime trade should be aware, the difference between low and high insurance rates for the shipment of food by the WFP can pay for the naval presence alone. The cost can ultimately be measured in millions per month, much higher than the cost of a few French frigates ready to put steel on a pirate target in the Indian Ocean.