Executive Overview: Fighting Ships

The hijacking of Sirius Star on 15 November 2008 was one of the most noteworthy of many incidents of piracy over the last year. Fully laden with oil, the ship was captured approximately 450 n miles southeast off the Kenyan coast while en route to the United States via the Cape of Good Hope. While the ship was later released after the payment of a ransom, the incident symbolises the sophistication, boldness and ruthlessness of the Somali pirates, the difficulties in combating them faced by maritime forces and the lack of a suitable international system within which pirates can be brought to justice.

The world's navies have not been inactive; indeed there has been a welcome commonality of purpose demonstrated by nations, not all of whom are natural military partners. Multilateral efforts have included NATO and EU task groups as well as ships from Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Singapore. Nor has there been any lack of robustness when forced to take self-defensive measures. Two assumed pirates were killed when a team from the British frigate, Cumberland, returned fire on a dhow that it was attempting to board, while the Indian frigate, Tabar, sank a Thai fishing vessel when fired upon by hijackers who had boarded the ship. Despite these efforts, the frequency of hijacking incidents has continued to rise.