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Date: March 28, 2024 Thu

Time: 5:57 pm

Results for hijacking

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Author: Shortland, Anja

Title: The Business of Pirate Protection

Summary: Somali piracy is often described as a form of organized crime. There is an implicit assumption that pirate gangs handle the entire process from hijack to ransom, including the provision of security for hijacked ships. This approach fails to distinguish between different actors within modern piracy and leads to policies focusing on deterring pirate recruits and lowering the returns to investors. Drawing on Protection Theory developed for the study of Mafias, a detailed analysis of Bloomberg maps of hijacked vessels’ routes, field interviews and Somali press reports, we show that there is a clear distinction between protectors of piracy and pirates. Clan elders and their militias facilitate piracy, because they protect hijacked ships in their anchorages and have well-established channels for coordinating actions where business interests cut across clan lines. This explains the relative stability and order within the piracy business, such as the lack of re-hijacking. The paper concludes by arguing that the solution to piracy needs to focus on the enablers rather than the executors of the crime, and should be at the substate, clan level.

Details: Berlin: Economics of Security, 2012. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource: Economics of Security Working Paper 75: Accessed November 29, 2012 at: http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.408691.de/diw_econsec0075.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Somalia

URL: http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.408691.de/diw_econsec0075.pdf

Shelf Number: 127030

Keywords:
Hijacking
Maritime Crime
Maritime Security
Pirates/Piracy (Somalia)