Piracy studies tend to be heavy on the "need for regulation" side and light on the "fix piracy" side. One area where undisputed success has been shown has generated few studies. The use of armed guards aboard...

©defensetalk

FGS Sachsen, part of EU NAVFOR’s Operation Atalanta

This week’s quick statistics:

Number of merchant ships held by Somali pirates: 8
Number of hostages held by Somali pirates on land: 28
Number of hostages held by Somali pirates on vessels: 222
Amount paid in ransoms to Somali pirates in 2012: $29.2 million

Pirates have been back in the game trying their luck with two successful dhow hijackings off the Omani coast, an area where the waters have been more...

EU NAVFOR

MV Albedo

A week after Somali pirates released seven of the 21 crew of the hijacked MV ALBEDO, Somalia Report has learned that pirate commanders and investors are fighting over the ransom.

On July 31st of this year, pirates released seven Pakistani crew members who had been held over 20 months after receiving $1.2 million in ransom. Since then, pirate investors demanded $700,000 of the take to be used for reinvesting while the remaining $500,000 was to be divided to the all members including commanders, investors and Ilaalo group, as well as negotiators from Himan and Heeb administration, according to pirates who spoke to Somalia Report.

But the pirate commanders, led by Guushaaye, refused to hand over $200,000 of the money resulting in a major conflict among the two groups with the hostages and the vessel being...

EU NAVFOR

European Union Helicopter

The European Union Naval Force known as EU NAVFOR is promoting the first of their long touted attacks on pirate camps within a narrow 2km strip along the coast of...

©Somalia Report

Somali Fisherman

Hasan Ahmed Omer, deputy manager of Sunrise Restaurant (branch one) in the Hamarweyne Hotel at Via Roma, told Somalia Report that he spends at least $250 on fish per week for his customers and his net revenues are $130.

“We make our customers beef, chicken and fish, but lately our residents mainly demand fish. In December of last year we bought one kilogram of fish for 100Sh ($4.50) but now it is between 60 to 80Sh ($2.70 - $3.64),” Hasan explained. “It is less expensive so people now eat more of it. Now you can see several women roasting fish at night in Mogadishu's roads such as Via Liberia, which it connects to the Maka Al-mukarama to Villa Somali."

In 1989 the former Somali government estimated approximately 32 types of fish were available in the Somalia's territorial waters. Today it is unknown what types of fish are available, but one vendor explained what he catches on a regular basis.

“Most Somali people catch and cook popular fish called ‘Jedar', 'Safiti', and ‘Yunbi' which are the most expensive types of fish and the ones people like to eat the most. ‘Danberi’, ‘Safiti’,...

Somalia Report

Somalis in Mareero, near Bosaso, waiting for the boats to take them to Yemen

Exceedingly difficult living conditions in southern and central Somalia have caused tens of thousands of refugees to transit through Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, to board dhows for a risky journey across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen in order to escape fighting, al-Shabaab militants, rape, starvation, and poverty.

According to the Puntland government and local non-governmental organizations, ten thousands of refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia make their way to the Puntland smuggling hubs of Mareero, Qaw and Elayo, all located in Bari region, to begin the perilous journey...