Piracy in Somalia has become a great threat for the international shipping industry.
Piracy in Somalia eventually continues to increase since the onset of the second phase of Somali Civil War. Numerous international organizations have shown concern over the dramatic rise in piracy due to the fact that it greatly affects the delivery of shipments. It causes a great waste of time since it results to such delay which really costs a lot of money.
Losses in global trade are estimated to be around 6.6- 6.9 billion dollars in a year according to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP). Shipping lines that passes the coastal borders of the country are having great worries since piracy in Somalia has become very rampant. With that, authorities have established a task force that could combat piracy.
Joint efforts coming from the Somali government and other international authorities were made to address piracy in Somalia. In the middle of 2010, there was a report that the increased efforts of different authorities contributed to the significant reduction of piracy attacks.
Questions have been raised regarding the reason why there is such a high incidence of piracy in the country. According to the United Nations' reports, the piracy along the coast of Somalia has been partly due to illegal fishing. Moreover, according to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, piracy attacks has been a result for the inhibited ability of local fishermen to earn a living because shipping vessels have polluted the Somali waters as a result of their toxic wastes dumped in the ocean.
Moreover, the locals eventually shifted into hijacking since the ransom they get is much higher than that of fishing. This has become the sailors' dilemma s such as in the case of Captain Richard Phillips who inspired the Hollywood movie "Captain Phillips" starred by Tom Hanks. Captain Phillips was the captain of MV Maersk Alabama when it was hijacked in April 2009.
Piracy in Somalia has become an opportunity for the pirates to gain much money that traditional fishing can't provide. High unemployment rate is also one of its motivating factors.
"Young people get attracted into this business because there is very high unemployment here, almost 100 per cent, with no factories or industry," Mohamed Kalombi, Puntland's interior minister said in a report.
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