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Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War in the early 21st century. Since 2005, many international organizations have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Piracy: orchestrating the response )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hijackings cut aid access to south Somalia, lives at risk )〕 Piracy impeded the delivery of shipments and increased shipping expenses, costing an estimated $6.6 to $6.9 billion a year in global trade in 2011 according to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP). According to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), a veritable industry of profiteers also arose around the piracy. Insurance companies significantly increased their profits from the pirate attacks, as the firms hiked rate premiums in response.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Advantage of Piracy )〕 A United Nations report and several news sources have suggested that the piracy off the coast of Somalia was caused in part by illegal fishing by foreign boats taking advantage of the war, which resulted in lost fishing income to local communities.〔http://www.democracynow.org/2009/4/14/analysis_somalia_piracy_began_in_response〕 According to the German Institute for Economic Research and the US House Armed Services Committee, the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters by foreign vessels also severely constrained the ability of local fishermen to earn a living. In response, the fishermen began forming armed groups to stop the foreign ships. They eventually turned to hijacking commercial vessels for ransom as an alternate source of income.〔 In 2009, a survey by WardheerNews found that approximately 70 percent of the local coastal communities at the time "strongly support() the piracy as a form of national defense of the country's territorial waters". The pirates also believed that they were protecting their fishing grounds and exacting justice and compensation for the marine resources stolen. In the absence of an effective national coast guard following the outbreak of the civil war and the subsequent disintegration of the Armed Forces, local fishermen formed organized groups in order to protect their waters. This is reflected in the names adopted by some of the pirate networks, such as the ''National Volunteer Coast Guard'', which are testimony to the pirates' initial motivations.〔(How Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates )〕 However, as piracy became substantially more lucrative, other reports have speculated that financial gain became the primary motive for the pirates. Combined Task Force 150, a multinational coalition task force, took on the role of fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia by establishing a Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) within the Gulf of Aden. The increasing threat posed by piracy has also caused concern in India since most of its shipping trade routes pass through the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Navy responded to these concerns by deploying warships in the region on October 2008. In September 2008, Russia announced that it too would join international efforts to combat piracy. Some reports have also accused certain government officials in Somalia of complicity with the pirates, with authorities from the Galmudug administration in the north-central Hobyo district reportedly attempting to use pirate gangs as a bulwark against Islamist insurgents from the nation's southern conflict zones. However, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, both the former and current administrations of the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia appear to be more actively involved in combating piracy.〔 The latter measures include on-land raids on pirate hideouts,〔 and the construction of a new naval base in conjunction with Saracen International, a UK-based South African private military contractor described by the UN Security Council as the "most egregious threat" to peace and security in Somalia.〔http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/private-firm-flouts-un-embargo-in-somalia-1.1242748〕〔http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/prince-of-mercenaries-who-wreaked-havoc-in-iraq-turns-up-in-somalia-2191270.html〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Somalia: Puntland to start construction of new Navy base )〕 By the first half of 2010, these increased policing efforts by Somali government authorities on land and international naval vessels at sea reportedly contributed to a drop in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden from 86 a year prior to 33, forcing pirates to shift attention to other areas such as the Somali Basin and the wider Indian Ocean. By the end of 2011, pirates had managed to seize only four ships off the coast of Somalia, 22 fewer than the 26 they had captured in each of the two previous years. They also attempted unsuccessful attacks on 52 other vessels, 16 fewer than the year prior.〔(Somali pirates struggle against international crackdown )〕 As of 27 February 2015, the pirates were holding no major vessels for ransom, although there were twenty-six hostages remaining in their custody from a previous merchant hijacking.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Key Facts and Figures )〕 According to another source, there were 151 attacks on ships in 2011, compared with 127 in 2010 – but only 25 successful hijacks compared to 47 in 2010. Pirates had held 10 vessels and 159 hostages in February 2012. In 2011, pirates earned $146m, an average of $4.87 million per ship. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 pirates operated. By February 2012 1,000 had been captured and were going through legal processes in 21 countries.〔(Somali piracy in numbers )〕 According to the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR), intensified naval operations had by February 2012 led to a further drop in successful pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean, with the pirates' movements in the region at large also significantly constrained. About 25 military vessels from EU and NATO countries, China, Russia, India and Japan patrolled approximately 8.3 million km2 (3.2 million sq miles) of ocean, an area about a quarter the size of Africa.〔 On 16 July 2012, the EU launched a new operation, EUCAP Nestor. An analysis by the Brussels-based Global Governance Institute urged the EU to commit onshore to prevent piracy. By September 2012, the heyday of piracy in the Indian Ocean was reportedly over. Backers were now reportedly reluctant to finance pirate expeditions due to the low rate of success, and pirates were no longer able to reimburse their creditors. According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks had by October 2012 dropped to a six-year low, with only one ship attacked in the third quarter compared to thirty-six during the same period in 2011. By December 2013, the US Office of Naval Intelligence reported that only nine vessels had been attacked during the year by the pirates, with zero successful hijackings. Control Risks attributed this 90% decline in pirate activity from the corresponding period in 2012 to the adoption of best management practices by vessel owners and crews, armed private security onboard ships, a significant naval presence, and the development of onshore security forces. The decline in pirate activity has allowed foreign fishing corporations to renew their extraction from Somali fisheries.〔http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/31/somalia-fishing-flotillas-pirates-comeback〕 == History == In the early 1980s, prior to the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia, the Somali Ministry of Fisheries and the Coastal Development Agency (CDA) launched a development program focusing on the establishment of agricultural and fishery cooperatives for artisanal fishermen. It also received significant foreign investment funds for various fishery development projects, as the Somali fishing industry was considered to have a lot of potential owing to its unexploited marine stocks. The government at this time permitted foreign fishing through official licensing or joint venture agreements, forming two such partnerships in the Iraqi-Somali Siadco and Italian-Somali Somital ventures.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Marine Fisheries Review, ''Somali fishery industry has potential for growth'', December 1982, 44 (12) )〕 After the collapse of the central government in the ensuing civil war, the Somali Navy disbanded. With Somali territorial waters undefended, foreign fishing trawlers began illegally fishing on the Somali seaboard and ships from big companies started dumping waste off the coast of Somalia. This led to the erosion of the fish stock. Local fishermen subsequently started to band together to protect their resources.〔〔 After seeing the profitability of ransom payments, some financiers and former militiamen later began to fund pirate activities, splitting the profits evenly with the pirates. In most of the hijackings, the pirates have not harmed their prisoners.〔(Somali Pirates Seize Two Ships ), Sky News, 15 August 2008〕 Combined Task Force 150, a multinational coalition task force, subsequently took on the role of fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia by establishing a Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) within the Gulf of Aden.〔 However, many foreign naval vessels chasing pirates were forced to break off when the pirates entered Somali territorial waters. To address this, in June 2008, following a letter from the Somalian Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to the President of the UN Security Council requesting assistance for the TFG's efforts to tackle acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a declaration authorizing nations that have the consent of the Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters to deal with pirates. On the advice of lawyers, the Royal Navy and other international naval forces have often released suspected pirates that they have captured because, although the men are frequently armed, they have not been caught engaging in acts of piracy and have thus not technically committed a crime.〔(Navy regularly releases Somali pirates, even when caught in the act )". ''The Telegraph''. 29 November 2009〕 Due to improved anti-piracy measures the success of piracy acts on sea decreased dramatically by the end of 2011 with only four vessels hijacked in the last quarter versus 17 in the last quarter of the preceding year. In response, pirates resorted to increased hostage taking on land.〔 The government of the autonomous Puntland region has also made progress in combating piracy, evident in interventions by its maritime police force (PMPF). In part to further curtail piracy activity, the London Somalia Conference was convened in February 2012. According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean had by October 2012 dropped to a six-year low.〔 Attempted hijackings fell from 237 in 2011 to 75 the following year, with successful attacks plummeting from 28 in 2011 to 14 in 2012. Additionally, only 1 ship was attacked in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 36 during the same period in 2011.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Piracy off the coast of Somalia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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