The Somali coast of East Africa has been the center of piracy for over 12 years. A cruise ship was the last target. It escaped but a legacy of fear and worry for this coast is forcing a call for denominating it a "combat zone".

Just recently a Sebourn cruise ship, the Seabourn Spirit with 302 passengers, of whom 18 were British, was attacked off the coast of Somalia by pirates in two 25 foot inflatable boats. They attacked at high speed with rocket propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons. It was felt that this was an act of piracy rather than a terrorist attempt.

The result of this attack was a loungeful of safe passengers, a crew who had been specially trained to repel people trying to gain entrance to the ship and a captain and bridge crew who first tried to run the pirates down at high speed, discharged a sonic "bang"; then changed course and outdistanced them.

Sebourn is a Carnival owned subsidiary. Carnival Cruise Lines is their worldwide headquarters based in Miami, Florida. It must have been a frightening time for the tourist-passengers and used the crew to their utmost; but it was not the first or the worst of the piracy off the Somali coast of East Africa over the past decade plus. Somalia has had no recognized government in 14 years.

The Times noted that,

"Numast, the maritime union, will meet the Chamber of Shipping in London this week to demand that the waters off Somalia, where there have been 25 attacks on shipping since March, be designated a combat area.

Such a declaration would give crew members the right to refuse to sail there, force shipowners to recruit extra staff for security duties, entitle crews to danger money and guarantee seafarers insurance cover."

The International Maritime Bureau has requested international shippers to maintain their craft at least 50 miles offshore. The pirates have become more invasive with one attack 120 miles from the coast. Ship owners have been advised to install electric fencing to repel boarders.

Citation for The Times article is at Sean O'Neill , The Times

Somalia has tuna resources and a rich eco-system offshore. However it has had no government since the fall of President Siad Barre's regime. The abyss left by the anarchy which was NOT solved by the UN/US entrance to bring "relief" to the population. Instead the warlords who destroyed that relief attempt now control the Somalia coastal patrol who have discovered that coastal patrol is easily turned to vessel seizure, kidnapping for ransom and outright piracy.

"With the breakdown of civil society, Somalia has degenerated into a no-man's land subject to clan or Islamic Shari'ah law. Owing to continuing unrest in the south, a central government is unlikely to evolve soon. In its place, a decentralized federation of regional political entities has emerged, including the self-proclaimed but unrecognized Republic of Somaliland in the northwest, the self-proclaimed Puntland State in the northeast, Jubaland in the south near Kismayo, and a future Banadir regional administration around Mogadishu when warlords Hussein Aideed (son of late General Farah Aideed) and Ali Mahdi settle their differences. Years of internal conflict have damaged infrastructure in the fishery sector and rendered ineffective any previous oil spill response capability, aids to navigation, and search and rescue capacity in a region of high tanker/cargo traffic to and from the Suez Canal through the Gulf of Aden and calling at Mombasa, the East African shipping hub..."