Somali Pirates Stuck With Nasty Cargo

In recent days, media outlets have been reporting about a Belize-flagged vessel that was transporting more than 30 Soviet-designed T-72 tanks to Mombassa, Kenya. Last Thursday, the Ukrainian cargo ship, MV Faina, was hijacked by about 100 well-armed Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. After boarding the ship, the attackers claimed the vessel was actually headed to Juba, in southern Sudan. It appeared the pirates hoped to use this compromising information (Sudan is under a UN arms embargo) to secure a $20m ransom payment from Ukraine. 

News of the attack is not so surprising. Somalia has been without a functioning government for 17 years, during which time the country's lawlessness has spread to the waterways off the Horn of Africa. As one of the most trafficked regions in the open seas, the Gulf of Aden hosts about 10% of the world's seaborne trade. And this year alone, pirates have reportedly attacked more than 50 merchant vessels commanding million-dollar ransom payments.

Nevertheless, an earlier pirate attack from August 21 is beginning to stir up serious concern. An Iranian merchant ship, the MV Iran Deyanat, was highjacked southeast of al-Makalla in Yemen by about 40 Somali pirates. The vessel was taken to Eyl, a small fishing village in the Puntland region of northern Somalia, which is host to a number of crime syndicates.

The MV Iran Deyanat left port in Nanjing, China at the end of July and was reportedly headed to Rotterdam for a German client. According to documents, the ship's declared cargo was "minerals" and "industrial products." When the pirates boarded the ship to inspect the freight, however, many became seriously ill and some died. Andrew Mwangura, the Director of East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, claimed that, "Our sources say it contains chemicals, dangerous chemicals." 

News of the toxic cargo has rattled local officials. The Puntland Minister of Minerals and Oil, Hassan Allore Osman, dispatched negotiators to meet with the pirates on September 4, in an effort to inspect the ship. Instead, the pirates have prevented access to the sealed cargo containers, which they have threatened to detonate. Progress in the standoff is unclear, although Mr Osman confirmed that several pirates had died, while others had lost hair and suffered skin burns. 

The MV Iran Deyanat is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a nationalized company under the auspices of the Iranian military. Back on September 10, the US Treasury announced sanctions against the IRISL for its part in Iran's nuclear program. The company has been accused of transporting materials to UN designated proliferators and falsifying documents to move illicit cargo. Indeed, many analysts have suggested that the toxic shipment includes chemical weapons headed to Eritrea. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a Somali insurgent group, has historically received financial and material support from Eritrea. In 2006, Iran provided the ICU with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and antitank missiles. 

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) estimates that anywhere from $1b to $16b is lost each year due to international piracy. Such statistics are woefully inaccurate, however. Shipping companies will often fail to report attacks or pay "no questions asked" bribes to ensure safe passage. Honest disclosures about the treacherous routes their cargo must navigate would undoubtedly raise hefty insurance premiums. The shadowy elements of the maritime economy only exacerbate the sort of confusion that now shrouds the MV Iran Deyanat. 

After the UN Security Council unanimously passed a new Iranian resolution on Sunday, any further indications that Iran was involved in shipping chemical material would likely come under international scrutiny. 

Maritime chokepoints in hostile waters are prime targets for pirate attacks. As a result of the resent surge in hijackings, Somali crews now have some 14 vessels and over 300 hostages held off the coast. There is one ship, however, that should receive special attention from the Djibouti-based multinational taskforce that now patrols the Gulf of Aden. A few pirates may have gotten crude justice for their trade, but the real offender might be a more familiar miscreant: Iran.