Flags are highly symbolic and are often used for self-promotion. In shipping, they also serve as a means of identification, sometimes as a threatening mental construct. This is currently the case: Thousands of kilometers to the southeast of Europe, a symbolic “flag”—albeit not actually used in practice—is resurfacing in the minds of sailors.
This is the black flag of African pirates. Just when the international shipping industry had breathed a sigh of relief that the threat from the Yemeni Houthi militia in the wake of the Gaza War was waning, a centuries-old scourge of shipping may now be returning.
Security authorities, military officials, and analysts are already sounding the alarm and warning of a resurgence of piracy in the Somali Basin. After several years with comparatively few attacks, reports of incidents are once again emerging. Pirate groups with so-called mother ships are repeatedly sighted “on the run.” The “Hellas Aphrodite” was boarded off Eyl after being fired upon. Soldiers from the EU mission “Atalanta” were able to drive the attackers off the ship. It is said to be the first successful boarding in the western Indian Ocean since 2018.
Shortly before, the “Stolt Sagaland” was fired upon off Mogadishu. Armed security personnel were able to drive it off.
In the west of the continent, off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, several sailors were kidnapped from a tanker. No one was able to drive off the attackers.
It is to be hoped that politicians will address this issue quickly. And it is to be hoped that the structures from the previous heyday of Somali piracy in the last decade are still functioning. Units of the EU’s “Atalanta” mission or the multinational cooperation “Combined Maritime Forces 151” played a major role in pushing back the pirates at the time – if not the decisive one.
But the situation is different now. We see many different security hotspots around the globe, which also have effects at sea: the war in Ukraine, the extremely tense situation between Taiwan and China, the so-called US anti-drug campaign against Venezuelan smugglers, cyberattacks on ships, the Russian shadow fleet, and the fight against what is called illegal migration by sea. Rarely has the perceived or actual need for naval vessels been as great as it is today.
It seems we have to hope for many things right now. And so, we must also hope that, despite all these problems, the governments of the world do not once again neglect the fight against piracy. Decisive action is needed now so that the situation does not spiral out of control and that more people are not emboldened to seek their salvation in the supposedly lucrative world of piracy, under the symbolic black flag. As if there weren’t already enough risks for seafarers, cargoes and ships.
______________
Michael Meyer
Chief Editor
