WASHINGTON — In 2005, the average ransom paid for the release of a ship hijacked by Somali pirates was around $150,000. By the end of last year, it stood at $5.4 million. That means revenues for the business of piracy more than doubled every year. The 2005 to 2010 percentage increase is a staggering 3,600 percent.
Bernd Debusmann talks about how tackling piracy on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean is not possible simply by using sea-based patrols. The only real solution is to address the issue of a completely failed State in Somalia. We are fast approaching a situation where the international community cannot afford to ignore this problem. India too has a lot at stake here. The Indian Navy has definitely scored some hits in terms of pirate ships destroyed, but it will take much more than that, before the seaways are free and safe again.
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