OMM Redaksiyası
Tensions in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz have increased the activity of Somali pirates.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports, citing foreign media outlets.
International shipping routes being diverted toward the Horn of Africa because of the confrontations have pushed Somali piracy to its highest level in the past 10 years, according to the reports.
Security experts say the deployment of international naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea amid the confrontation between the United States and Israel and Iran has created a security gap off the Somali coast.
About 70 percent of commercial vessels in the Red Sea have reportedly been diverted to a route passing around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. This forces ships to travel along routes closer to the Somali coast, creating new opportunities for pirates.
According to the reports, pirate groups have begun using SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service to identify targets and communicate.
In addition, the recirculation of ransom payments in the regional economy is increasing interest in piracy and raising the risk that more people will join the activity.
Experts believe it would be difficult to carry out international naval operations on the scale seen in 2011-2012 under current conditions. In their view, ensuring political stability in Somalia must be the first step toward a long-term solution.
Somali piracy reached its peak in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when attacks on commercial vessels prompted international naval patrols and the adoption of stronger onboard security measures. The Horn of Africa remains a strategically important shipping area linking the Indian Ocean with routes leading toward the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
