Back on July 8th press reports indicated pirates had hijacked the Turkish bulk freighter M/V Horizon-1 right in the middle of the security corridor in the Gulf of Aden where shipping traffic usually avoids pirate attacks. To make things even more interesting, the hijacking reportedly took place in rough seas, usually a condition that prevents small pirate ships from operating effectively.The attack had all sorts of strange, unconfirmed details associated with it, including the possibility that the Indian Navy shot 2 of the 5 hijackers, and that the pirates themselves were reported unarmed, even while being escorted by Turkish warships, according to the shipping company spokesman.
Turkey appears to be taking the gloves off a bit, and has become more proactive in taking on pirates. After capturing 5 pirates last week, Turkish naval commandos captured seven more pirates this week, but Somalia pirates have also been busy.
The same day this news report caught my attention, and although I have yet to see much news coverage of the incident, I find this one of the more interesting events off Somalia regarding piracy in awhile. Apparently, one of the Turkish crew members of M/V Horizon-1 has been reportedly shot while being held hostage.
The mother of one of the 23 crew said her son told them about the incident in a brief telephone conversation earlier this week.This Australian news report adds some additional information and context, which may or may not be speculation (you can decide).
"My son was weeping and asking us to save them... He said that they had run out of food... and that one (sailor) had been shot and wounded," the Radikal daily quoted Gulperi Sari as saying.
"I'm worried about my son's life... The government must resolve this issue," she said.
However, direct information from Eyl reports that this story was most likely used to put pressure on the owner of the vessel to speed up ransom delivery. While one crew member had been slightly injured by broken glasses during the attack leading to the sea-jacking, the release of the vessel with 23 Turkish seafarers is said to be on track and expected soon, since talks have apparently been concluded in the Middle-East, though there was a conflict among the captors.Piracy has been remarkably lower during the monsoon season, which will soon be coming to an end. It is hard to tell whether one should expect improvement over last year or not, given the vast distances to cover, the influence of weather, the increase in regional maritime security forces, and the historical trends.
One thing does concern me though... I expect to soon see visible signs of tactical evolution in Somalia piracy, and I am concerned what that might look like. It could be better motors for boats, or better boats in general, but it might also mean better weapon systems or a better intelligence network.
Piracy is not a problem that can't be managed by a disorganized hodgepodge of international naval forces as long as the Somali pirates operate as a hodgepodge of unorganized greed centric criminals. It isn't difficult to see how the introduction of only a handful of weapon systems, whether they be incendiary weapons of some kind or shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missile systems that can turn anti-piracy into a political and naval catastrophe, as both low flying helicopters and rubber inflatable boats are both susceptible to relatively small and concealable weapon systems that can force a huge warship to lose its two most important anti-piracy technology assets - RHIBS and RW.
I do hope our tactics and RoE are in line with insuring that the safety of our sailors remains the top priority, because any expectation that tactical evolution isn't coming would be inconsistent not only with the behavior of Somali pirates to date, but any foe our military forces have been dealing with over the past decade.
