Sally Lightfoot

Violance is spiralling out of control where fighting the Somali pirates. A couple of years back, watercanons were sufficient to prevent boarding. Molotov cocktails and razor wire followed as deterring measures. Some time later, shipping companies hired professional security staff to protect their ships and precious cargo. Initially their mere presence, patrolling the decks heavily armed, [...]

Today’s media are all over the Somali pirates: a Saudi crude carrier, an Italian cruiseliner with 1500 passengers and a well armed Israeli hired security, a Ukranian vessel laden with tanks destined to an unknown country, a traditional Indian dhow, or a ship chartered by an international aid donor carrying food to the perishing Somali population. Somali pirates take anything. They couldn’t care less, if [...]

Dutch monthly ‘Zeilen’ may 2009 edition features Somalische roulette (Somali roulette), an article -in Dutch- on the alarming increase 2008 saw in piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali part of the Indian Ocean. Over that year the amount of piracy incidents doubled compared to 2007. The international communities’ response was to beef up the [...]

The Gulf of Aden is unquestionably the most dangerous part of the world for pirate attacks. Hundreds of ships, fishing boats and even yachts were attacked in this area during 2008, and the problems continue this year. Somali pirates are not only attacking boats near the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates are [...]

In March 2005, Sally Lightfoot sailed the Gulf of Aden in easterly direction. When she was just about ready to set sail from Aden, Yemen, a radiomessage came in with the alarming news of two American yachts having been attacked by pirates a mere 50 nm east of Aden. After a short exchange of fire, the [...]

Unosat produces maps illustrating pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the ‘Somali’ Indian Ocean. Download their 2008 map: unosat_piracy_gulf_aden_2008. This map illustrates reported incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 and was produced by UNOSAT in support of the ongoing humanitarian operations across the Horn of Africa, and in response [...]

Shifting focus
Most likely due to the increased presence of Coalition Force warschips in the Gulf of Aden, Somali pirates have shifted their focus to remoter, unpatrolled parts of the Indian Ocean. Just under a month ago, yacht Serenity, flying the Seychelles flag and cruising the waters of the Seychelles archipelago, was boarded by Somali pirates and [...]