Contemporary Somali piracy : evaluating the effectiveness of counter-piracy measures

The shipping industry suffers as the direct victim of contemporary Somali piracy. Despite much counter-piracy efforts initiated by both the international community and shipping industry, the situation in the Horn of Africa regions persists with a somewhat exponential and unstoppable increase in number of attacks and threats to lives of seafarers. This report thus focuses on analysing counter-piracy efforts dealing with the maritime domain in the Horn of Africa region. This report sets out to reaffirm that current international counter-piracy efforts had limited effects. While the naval forces in particular have been shown to produce results in reducing the pirates’ success rate in the Gulf of Aden through 2009, such effects were shortlived. Piracy remains unresolved, with pirates expanding their operations further out into the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. It has also been shown through survey results and interviews, that the shipping industry has perceived governmental efforts to be less robust in combating and controlling the threat of Somali piracy as compared to the industry’s Best Management Practices 3 (BMP3) - which is widely adhered to by shipowners due to the practical nature of its measures.Bachelor of Science (Maritime Studies