Pirates take ’super tanker’ towards Somalia
CNN.com
Pirates who hijacked a crude oil tanker off the coast of Kenya are approaching a Somali port, the U.S. Navy said Monday.The Sirius Star — a crude “super tanker” flagged in Liberia and owned by the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company — was attacked on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya.
The increase in piracy is a real problem, and one that I think isn’t getting enough attention. The world’s shipping lanes are crucial to our economies and protecting them should be a high priority. Obviously, there isn’t an easy solution to the problem, the oceans are a pretty big place. My guess would be a combination of initiatives need to be undertaken ranging from increased anti-piracy measures on the waters to working to ‘fix’ the places (most notably Somolia) where these pirates hail from. I also would guess that increased individual punishment for captured pirates would help.
One of either the causes or the early symptoms of the fall of Rome was increased piracy. Eventually, this ground the economy of the Empire to a halt, making it impossible for the government to sustain itself (or deal with the pirates and other brigands that were preying on it.) It would seem to me that acting now to avoid following in this path is a the obvious step to take.
First of all you should spell Somalia correctly.
Second I think that the solution to the piracy is quite simple in idea but daunting in reality. The one solution is an effective functioning State. Of course this has complication such as even if there is an effective government there is no guarantee that they can halt the piracy. But it must be understood that in the case of Somalia, the piracy (which I must mention is happening else where in the world but to a lesser degree) issue is directly connected to the social/ political instability of the Nation. And forcefully defending and attack pirates will not deter them for seeking the possibility that this trade provides. Remember Somalia is a nation filled with people who have been experiencing 17 year long civil war, a little gun fire from a few war ships is the same as a lot a gun fire from a bunch of gunmen on land.