I admit I’ve always been fascinated by pirates. My wife is into serial killers, with me it’s pirates. The more I think about it, though, the issue of modern piracy takes on great significance when we remember that pirates are the forerunners of maritime terrorists just as thieves and bandits became the bushwhackers of the US Civil War.
Piracy often goes unreported because it can tie up a ship and crew in port for weeks while investigations go nowhere. Of special concern here is the fine distinction between pirate and terrorist incidents which might also go unreported.
While exploring the ‘net for more information, I found the article “Hazardous Seas” (4-1-05) at The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA Online) that examines the link between piracy and maritime terrorism. It’s an interesting piece and one that is certainly worth reading.
The JINSA article describes one incident that sounds unlike a standard pirate attack:
On March 26, 2003, heavily armed pirates off the coast of Sumatra boarded the chemical tanker Dewi Madrim. After commandeering the bridge and driving the ship for an hour through the Straits of Malacca, the pirates suddenly fled with the ship’s first mate and captain but inexplicably made no request for ransom money, according to The Economist, October 2, 2003. Both remain missing and there is growing concern that they could be forced to instruct terrorists on ship handling.
The anomalies surrounding the Dewi Madrim incident led the London-based analysts at Aegis Defence Service to conclude that the hijackers were in fact terrorists gaining experience operating a large vessel and learning navigation skills for an eventual attack. According to “The New Piracy,” an article published by Charles Glass in The London Review of Books, December 18, 2003, ADS maritime expert Dominic Armstrong referred to the incident as particularly alarming, “They (the pirates) were fully armed with automatic weapons, which is a departure from the norm. They went straight to the bridge rather than the safe room. And instead of ransacking the crew’s goods they steered a laden tanker for an hour through the Malacca Straits… the implication is that what we are seeing… is the equivalent of a flight-training school for terrorists.”
Whether by terrorists or pirates an incident in the Malacca Straits would have devastating consequences for the global economy, not to mention the local environment. (New Zealand news source Stuff touches more on the security issues in that part of the world.)
Piracy has been steadily increasing over the past ten years but it appears that what is often classified as piracy is in actuality the preparation and training of terrorists all of which continues to highlight the need for port security to be taken seriously.
I’m not sure that port operations being managed by UAE or any other foreign company makes us less secure considering that port security ultimately rests with the US Coast Guard, which according to Wikipedia has the 38th oldest of the world’s forty largest navies. Perhaps we should be asking if the US Coast Guard has adequate resources to protect our ports from the various dangers that are probably steaming our way.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
sounds like you do a lot of reading and research. do you have a periodical(s) of choice? pirates, olden day pirates, have gained mythic status as swashbuckling, nefarious, dangerous thieves with a penchant for jewelry and facial hair. those are the types i like. modern day pirates. eh, the glamour has been lost. we need to get rid of them, or at least protect ourselves from them.
I do a lot of reading and I tend to research things that I have questions about. Then I obsess a little bit 🙂
As to periodicals I like National G, Discover, Texas Monthly. And regarding pirates, the subject has always fascinated me. Unfortunately today’s pirates are far more of a potential threat than those of yesteryear, primarily because of the link to terrorism.