Washington, D.C., Dec 5, 2008 -

On September 15, the Sirius Star, a supertanker carrying over 2 million barrels of oil worth over $100 million dollars, was hijacked by pirates near the coast of Somalia.  While piracy on the high seas has been less of a problem recently, historically piracy has been a problem of epic proportions.  In fact, piracy has been so prevalent throughout history that it is mentioned in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America.

A sudden spike in attempts has brought a new awareness to this historical problem.  This year alone, there have been at least 83 acknowledged pirate attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, 33 of these attacks successful enough to command a ransom. These ransom demands can range anywhere from a couple hundred-thousand dollars to $30 million, which is what the pirates are said to be asking for the release of the Sirius Star.

Pirates in this part of the world are operating out of the failed state of Somalia with impunity.  The president of the transitional government of Somalia freely admits that a variety of Islamist insurgents are in control of a majority of the country with his government controlling only the cities of Mogadishu and Baidoa.

The case of the Sirius Star highlights concerns that piracy off Somalia, which is still mercenary in nature, might soon attract Islamist extremists because of the lucrative ransoms being paid. If these extremists do not organize an attack themselves, the worry is that they might pay the pirates to do it for them.

Our ancestors learned early on that the best way to handle pirates was to act swiftly and decisively to discourage these types of hijackings.  It is important that we learn from their successes and stamp out piracy before more dangerous foes follow these pirates lead and begin to hijack ships.