Pirates! The waters off the Somalian coast are among the most dangerous in the world. Some 20 warships in the region are trying to “endure freedom”, but they have not been able to prevent 17 piracy attacks in 2007. Even though the Danish “Dancia White” was sailing a full 240 nautical miles off the coast, it was still hijacked.
Such kind of operations are now possible because pirates are increasingly switching to the hub and spoke system: motherships cruise deepsea and release many small and quick ”Volvos” to attack in formerly save waters.
Normally, one can get a ship and its crew released for a ransom of $ 500.000. The “Dancia White”, however, was three times as much. Some say that was due to her European crew. But it can also be argued that organizing and maintaining the hub and spoke network has proven to be more expensive than expected. So it has yet to be seen if pirates will return to direct calls, making the high seas more secure and ransoms affordable again.
