Somali Pirate Exchange Lets Investors Bet on Hitting a Ransom Jackpot (2024)

FAQs

Somali Pirate Exchange Lets Investors Bet on Hitting a Ransom Jackpot? ›

Now even landlubber Somali civilians can invest in one of 72 “maritime companies” and hope that their favorite pirate band strikes it rich with the successful ransoming of a captured ship and crew. People don't even need to invest cash – RPGs and other weapons also accepted at the main pirate lair of Haradheere.

The pirates might not have left the ship after we paid the ransom, or the rescue team could get attacked on the way to collect the ship. We managed all of those risks to the best of our ability. During the peak of piracy, my team and I delivered a ransom that was worth just under $15 million.

The Somali government has not gone after pirates because pirate leaders currently have more power than the government. In 2008 the pirates are estimated to have gained about $80 million through ransom payments.

The ransom cash was also used to fund human trafficking, arms trafficking, smuggling operations, militias, reinvestment in more piracy and even terrorism.

The investor pays.” Cooks, pimps, lawyers and the militia controlling ports also get a piece of the pie. The pirates' money is “typically spent on alcohol, khat, and prostitutes,” the report said.

The longest-held hostages are four crew members of the FV Prantalay 12 vessel who were released two months shy of five years in captivity. Somali pirates seized them at sea in April 2010 and released them in February 2015.

The ship, known as the Maran Centaurus, was freed along with all of its crew after a plane dropped a ransom payment in cash on the ship's deck. Ecoterra International, an environmental group that monitors illegal activity in the region's waters, said the cash payment was at least $7 million (4.8 million euros).

Today, the Somali pirates incarcerated in American prisons number at least 28, stemming from just five cases.

Since 2008, Somali pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden have made about $120 million per year in net profits. But they've cost the shipping industry far, far more than that — between $900 million and $3.3 billion per year.

Piracy off the Somali Coast No longer a threat to Shipping

In August 2022, an industry group of six international shipping organizations, including The International Chamber of Shipping, announced that piracy in the waters off the coast of Somalia is no longer a threat to global shipping.

Why don t ships carry guns against pirates? ›

(1) Normally the pirates don't kill anyone; they just steal the cargo or ransom it and the crew. If the ships were armed, some or all of the crew might be killed.

Ransom payments are made in cash dropped on the ship from a helicopter. About 5% of the ransom goes to shore administration, 60% goes to the businessman funder, and the remaining 35% is split between the crew and other parties involved.

The convicted pirates were each sentenced to 16 years in jail, with the pirate thought to be the leader of the group sentenced to 19 years.

Somalia: According to the DSSI, Chinese debt, at US$ 83.9 million, is less than four percent of the total in Somalia, where the largest creditors are Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, all creditors to whom Somalia‑‑a highly indebted poor country that embarked on the HIPC debt relief process only ...

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy both support the actions of the Combined Task Force 151 in their anti-piracy missions in the area.

The Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) was removed in January 2023 after several years without any Somali pirate attacks. However, the IMB PRC warns that Somali pirates retain the capability and capacity to carry out attacks in the Gulf of Aden region and urges masters to remain vigilant.

Maersk Alabama hijacking, incident involving the seizure of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship by four Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on April 8, 2009. Although the crew eventually repelled the attackers, Capt. Richard Phillips was taken hostage aboard one of the Maersk Alabama's lifeboats.

Like most pirates, Avery was an amoral opportunist who switched easily among the blurred divisions between privateering, buccaneering and sailing as a navy or merchant seaman (by the end of the 17th century the average age of a pirate was 27 - roughly the same as Somalia's modern pirates - and almost all had begun ...

The kidnappers would release footage of their captives periodically, and as time went on it looked increasingly unlikely that they would survive. But after almost 13 months a private ransom was paid, chiefly by their extended family, and the Chandlers were freed.

1 – Blackbeard

Easily the most famous buccaneer on the list and possibly the most terrifying pirate of all time, Blackbeard had a reputation of horrific magnitude in his day. In fact, it wasn't just the size of his reputation that was scary, but the content too!

What is the greatest pirate treasure never found? ›

Though Blackbeard's ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge, is thought to have been discovered in 1996, there was little on board of value aside from a handful of gold. There are many theories as to where Blackbeard's treasure might lie, but in the 300 years since he died, nothing has been found.

The highest-earning pirate ever was Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy, an Englishman who made his bones patrolling the New England coast in the 18th century. By our calculations, “Black Sam” plundered an estimated $120 million over the course of his career.

What happened to the Captives? If any prisoners were left alive, the captives would be put to work on the pirate ship. In particular, pirates would keep carpenters, map readers or surgeons captive because they could use these type of prisoners on their ship. Any extra crew would be sold as slaves.

Why was the Maersk Alabama hijacked in the first place? Although Captain Phillips is credited with saving the lives of his crew in the movie, the lawsuit filed by nine crewmembers sought to show the opposite is true.

However, according to some crew members, the film's portrayal of Phillips is a blatant manipulation of the facts. In a case brought by VB Attorneys, the crew claims that Phillips wasn't a hero, but was actually partially to blame for the pirate attack.

Hassan began his career in piracy in 2005. According to Belgian authorities, he made millions in illegal activities over the next eight years. The UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea linked Hassan with over seven vessel hijackings in 2009.

Following the aftermath of civil war and prolonged conflict, Somalia is now one of the most impoverished nations in the world. This is largely due to the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in 1991, an event that divided the country. War waged, killing thousands of native Somalis.

While it still exists today, there are laws and regulations in place to protect vessels from pirate attacks. Therefore, shooting pirates in international waters is generally not necessary or recommended.

In more than a decade, there have been only six reported incidents of pirates attempting to attack cruise ships, and the most recent was more than four years ago already.

What country has the most pirates? ›

Indonesia's 17,500 islands and their surrounding waters now take the title as the world's most heavily pirated.

Do ship captains carry guns? Cruise ship captains do not carry guns. However, the captain and the staff captain can give permission to the security team to arm themselves if necessary in order to protect the guests and crew members from an immediate threat.

Thankfully, cruise ships are worried about your protection as well. Though unlikely, hijackers or pirates may try to take control of a ship. Cruise companies see the risk of this kind of terrorism. In response, many cruise companies place armed security on each of their ships.

Article I, Section 8, clause 10 gives Congress the power to “define and punish piracy and felonies on the high seas and offenses against the law of nations.” With that power, in 1790, Congress enacted the first anti-piracy law.

Legends of buried pirate treasure have existed for centuries, but authenticated discoveries are rare. For example, extensive excavations on Oak Island have not yielded any treasure. The only authenticated treasure chest in the United States is kept at the Pirate Soul Museum in St. Augustine, Florida.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa have made between $339 million and $413 million in ransom profits, fuelling a wide range of criminal activities on a global scale, according to a United Nations-backed report released today.

One of the worst ways to perish at the hands of a pirate was through an act known as keelhauling. However, pirates were not the only group to use this method, as several navies also saw fit to punish people using it. The person in question would be tied to a rope that looped around the entire length of the boat.

Fourteen months after the events of the Maersk Alabama, Phillips went back to sea for another four years and retired in 2014. He lives with his family in Vermont.

Pirates usually attack in small speedboats, using ropes and ladders to climb a ship's hull and seize the crew. Once they have a ship, military action to free it holds dangers. The pirates are trained fighters, heavily armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, and they have the crews as hostages.

At the end of 2021, of the 98 countries for whom data was available, Pakistan ($27.4 billion of external debt to China), Angola (22.0 billion), Ethiopia (7.4 billion), Kenya (7.4 billion) and Sri Lanka (7.2 billion) held the biggest debts to China.

Which country owes China the most money in Africa? ›

In 2020, the African countries with the largest Chinese debt were Angola ($25 billion), Ethiopia ($13.5 billion), Zambia ($7.4 billion), the Republic of the Congo ($7.3 billion), and Sudan ($6.4 billion).

Somalia has untapped reserves of numerous natural resources, including uranium, iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt and natural gas. Australian and Chinese oil companies have been granted licenses for finding petroleum and other natural resources in the country.

In 2021, the type of ship most attacked by pirates was a bulk carrier. That year, there were 47 attacks on bulk carriers recorded. Product tankers were targeted by pirates 20 times and container ships 30 times.

Somali pirates have seized an Iranian-owned cargo ship and its 23-strong crew off the Maldives, according to security officials in the Indian Ocean nation. Maldives defence officials say it is the first time Somali pirates have taken a ship in its waters.

Encouraging International Cooperation and Action at Sea

In addition, the United States helped to create the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia to help coordinate and expand national counter-piracy efforts.

Somali pirates have attacked hundreds of vessels in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region, though most attacks do not result in a successful hijacking. In 2008, there were 111 attacks which included 42 successful hijackings.

Somalis are not 'Arab' or 'Middle Eastern'. They follow similar Islamic practices and customs to other majority Muslim countries. However, they are not located in the Middle East and are ethnically Somali, not Arab. Be aware that the northern region of Somaliland is self-declared as an independent breakaway republic.

This allows the authors to calculate the welfare loss caused by piracy. The main estimate suggests that the resource costs incurred in an industry worth $120 million a year to Somali pirates is between $0.9 and $3.3 billion.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa have made between $339 million and $413 million in ransom profits, fuelling a wide range of criminal activities on a global scale, according to a United Nations-backed report released today.

The crew cooks for itself with supplies from the logistics team at the port. The average ransom for a captured ship is usually well over $5 million. If the negotiations reach a sticking point, the pirates can begin threatening the crew to motivate the owners to settle.

How much money have Somali pirates hijacked? ›

The pirates off the coast of Somalia have received around USD 360 million in ransom, while piracy has cost the world around USD 18 billion.

Historically the greatest ransom paid was that paid for Atahualpa, the last emperor of the Incas, to the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1532-3 at Cajamarca, Peru, which constituted a hall full of gold and silver, worth in modern money some $1.5 billion (£1 billion).

The most precious prizes were chests of gold, silver and jewels. Coins were especially popular because pirate crews could share them out easily. Emeralds and pearls were the commonest gems from America, providing rich plunder.

The highest-earning pirate ever was Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy, an Englishman who made his bones patrolling the New England coast in the 18th century. By our calculations, “Black Sam” plundered an estimated $120 million over the course of his career.

The boatswain was another important pirate ship job. He was responsible for the running of the ship, making sure all the supplies were in order as well as the general maintenance of the pirate ship.

The African Union Mission in Somalia allowed the troops from Kenya to capture Kismayo port in 2012 and capture some al-Shabaab terrorists. It was a vital victory which reduced the piracy incidents, pirate activities, number of attacks and armed robbery on the high seas.

The 1976 Chowchilla kidnapping was the abduction of a school bus driver and 26 children, ages 5 to 14, in Chowchilla, California, United States, on July 15, 1976.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped about 9:00 p.m., on March 1, 1932, from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, New Jersey.

How to Respond and Report. The FBI does not support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack.