In recent years, Somali piracy has moved from isolated incidents to become the main talking point in the shipping industry. The pirates have constantly been evolving their strategy and reacting to the developing security measures being brought against them.
In the last two weeks, two UAE-owned vessels have been hijacked while trading with Somalia. This is just a small indication of how the Arabian Gulf has been and continues to be affected by the phenomenon.
Piracy is in no way limited to the shores of Somalia and the Indian Ocean. Piracy and armed robbery at sea is a global phenomenon. Hijacking vessels is not a unique tactic of Somali gangs; West African pirates target small tankers to offload their cargo and occasionally members of the crew. Some South-East Asian criminal gangs target barge-towing tugs for their value on the international market. But Somali piracy has seen the highest-profile hijacking for ransom model, which last year generated nearly $200 million (Dh735 million) in payments.
The Middle East has always been affected by the growth of these hijacking groups; however, piracy has gradually targeted vessels on more and more trading routes, so that any vessel leaving the Arabian Gulf is now threatened by Somali gangs.
Piracy is, of course, motivated by profit and financial gain. In a disturbing development for the Middle East, last year saw a more focused approach by pirates on the Arabian Sea. The expanse of ocean east of the Gulf of Aden has the highest concentration of shipping routes in the region, and pirates have begun converging on this area to improve their chances of hijacking ships for ransom.
There is the additional bonus that over a dozen oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz every day and successfully seizing just one of these vessels could provide a ransom of over $10 million. Some groups have changed their operating area to hunt the waters south of the Gulf of Aden. The majority of vessels hijacked last year and all the vessels hijacked so far this year have been in this area.
In March 2011, the vessel Sinar Kudus was hijacked in the southern Arabian Sea. Within a very short space of time, reports indicated that dozens of pirates had joined the vessel, which transported them north along the Omani coast and into the Gulf of Oman, which leads to the Strait of Hormuz. So far this year, while attack numbers have fallen, the groups have continued to push further north.
This shift in focus is demonstrated by the planned routes of hijacked vessels. Not counting fishing boats or local dhows, the percentage of merchant ships that were hijacked while travelling to or from ports within the Arabian Gulf rose from 33 per cent in 2010 to 40 per cent last year. Of the seven merchant vessels currently held, four were transiting to or from ports within the Arabian Gulf.
This spread of pirate activity is a result of never-ending adaptation to evolving security measures. Their diminished success rate is because of several factors: gangs have struggled through unusually bad weather for months, and are also encountering increasingly effective naval strategy and ship-security measures, most notably the increased deployment of armed guards on-board vulnerable vessels. This has pushed pirates to different areas of operation of which the area of greatest concern is the Gulf of Oman.
Also of concern is the vulnerability of anchorages in the region, most notably that of Fujairah, where about 600 vessels use the port each month. In August, the chemical tanker Fairchem Bogey was hijacked from the anchorage at Salalah in an ambitious operation. To date, this has been the only such incident, but if the prevalence of armed guards continues to neutralise pirate operations, the congested anchorage of Fujairah may present a tempting target. This type of hijacking is eminently achievable, as pirates' repeated successes off the coast of Benin last year and Lagos this year have demonstrated. So far this year, two attacks have occurred just 100 kilometres east of Fujairah.
The majority of the shipping industry and media focus is on merchant ships trading internationally. But the local dhow and fishing trades often get forgotten. Dhows are frequently targeted, not simply for their monetary value but to be adapted as mother-ships. This adds an additional, terrifying risk to those on-board, who may be forced to launch attacks to capture larger vessels.
Additionally, Iran has been active against piracy in recent months as part of a demonstration of military strength aimed at the West and Israel. Given that the US navy is also extensively involved in counter-piracy operations in the area, this brings two antagonistic naval forces together in a limited theatre fraught with international tensions.
These factors make the commercial operations of dhows in the region extremely dangerous. The Italian navy's recent killing of two Indian fishermen, after they were mistakenly identified as pirates, highlights the risks being run by smaller trading vessels.
With sanctions on Iran restricting local trade even further, and now impending sanctions against Somalia's Al Shabaab-controlled charcoal trade, the strain on both local and international shipping for the Middle East is not likely to ease anytime soon. As better conditions have returned to the area where pirates have had the most recent success, they will continue to put themselves in the most advantageous position to hijack vessels.
Tim Hart and Ruari Dowds are security analysts with Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants based in London
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
BANGLADESH SQUAD
Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (vice captain), Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
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Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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T20 World Cup Qualifier
Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets
Qualified teams
1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman
T20 World Cup 2020, Australia
Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland
Teams
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shanwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
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- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')
Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas
Three stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Tour de France 2017: Stage 5
Vittel - La Planche de Belles Filles, 160.5km
It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
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At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m
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2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m
Winner: Tabernas, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash.
2.45pm: Handicap Dh95,000 1,200m
Winner: Night Castle, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,400m
Winner: Mystique Moon, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Mutawakked, Szczepan Mazur, Musabah Al Muhairi.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner: Tafaakhor, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner: Cranesbill, Fabrice Veron, Erwan Charpy.
How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
• Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.
• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
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