The comeback of Somali pirates

Across the Gulf of Aden, a bloody civil war has been raging in Yemen since 2014, where the Houthis recently posed a new threat to shipping. That lawlessness on both sides of the Gulf of Aden fuels chaos at sea. 

Much of the world's trade passes here, through the Gulf of Aden towards the Suez Canal. Since November 2023, that route has become more unsafe: Houthi rebels from Yemen are deliberately attacking cargo ships, they say in solidarity with the Palestinians. The Houthis, backed by Iran, thus want to put pressure on Israel and the West. Their impact? Large-scale losses.
 
Although Somali piracy is no longer on the scale of its heyday in 2011, the question arises: are Somali pirates profiting from the unrest at sea? ‘Where the Houthis focus on geopolitical goals and disrupting international trade, Somalis are driven by economic necessity,’ continues Osama.

When the land no longer gives, the only way out remains for some: the sea. Osama refers to years of illegal fishing by foreign ships, internal conflicts and widespread poverty that Somalia suffers from. 

 "I saw friends hijacking ships and coming home with ransoms, amounts a fisherman would not earn in a lifetime. That's how I got sucked in."

Osama is a pseudonym. He does so for security reasons. The real name is known to the editors.

Photo: © Simon Clément