Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse on Trial in New York

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, who is facing charges in New York City for the 2008 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama is up against some new charges. In addition to the Maersk Alabama charge two more charges have been brought against the young man by the Justice Department:

The superseding indictment filed by the Justice Department in Manhattan federal court alleges that Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse hijacked a ship traveling the Indian Ocean in March 2009. He and his accomplices held the captain and crew of the vessel hostage, during which time he threatened one of the hostages with an improvised explosive device (IED).

Muse and his associates allegedly used the ship to take control of another vessel in April 2009.

Appearing in court to be indicted on those charges Muse appeared calm. As other accused pirates incarcerated in Europe have seen, this may simply because jail offers an opportunity for leisure and supply a frequency of amenities, like clean water and consistent, large meals; that those who turn to piracy have never before experienced.

Interviews with Muse's parents seem to imply a story of a young man led astray, but the additional charges imply that prosecutors do not believe that Muse is a wide-eyed first-time offender.

Muse's personal details are murky, with his parents in Somalia insisting he was tricked into getting involved in piracy. His age also remained unclear. His parents said he is only 16, but U.S. law enforcement said he is at least 18, meaning prosecutors will not have to take extra legal steps to try him in a U.S. court.

Muse's mother said she has no records to prove his age, but she and the teen's father say he is 16. "I never delivered my babies in a hospital," she said. "A traditional midwife helped me deliver."

A classmate, however, said he believed Muse could be older — and that he studied English at school.

"I think he was one or two years older than me, and I am 16," said Abdisalan Muse, reached by telephone in Galkayo. "We did not know him to be a pirate, but he was always with older boys, who are likely to be the ones who corrupted him..."

...Muse grew up poor in a one-room home, the eldest child of a divorced mother, in one of the most impoverished, violent countries in the world. A nation of around 8 million people, Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. A quarter of Somali children die before age 5 and nearly every public institution has collapsed.

Muse's mother sells milk at a small market every day, saving around $6 every month for school fees for her oldest son. She pays 15 dollars a month in rent.

"I cried when I saw the picture of him," Hassan said, referring to the photo of her son being led in handcuffs in New York. "Relatives brought a copy of the picture to me. Surely he is telling himself now, 'My mother's heart is broken."'

She said the last time she saw her son in person, she was pushing him out the door so he would not be late for school.

Since that day weeks ago, he simply disappeared. Asked why she believed he left, Hassan was at a loss.

"A young man, at his age, could say he needed money, perhaps," she said. "I used to give him his school fee because I could not afford more than that. But of course he needed money."

The boy's father, Abdiqadir Muse, said the pirates lied to his son, telling him they were going to get money. The family is penniless, he said.

"He just went with them without knowing what he was getting into," Muse said in a separate telephone interview with the AP through an interpreter.

He also said it was his son's first outing with the pirates after having been taken from his home about a week and a half before he surrendered at sea to U.S. officials.

Paul and Rachel Chandler Updates

While Paul and Rachel Chandler have been hostages in Africa for over 100 days, no ransom has been paid for their release. They were separated, then reunited, and under constant death threats that have been reiterated to the international community by their captors, hoping to move a ransom along.

Rachel Chandler recently interviewed by news sources and had said that they were going to be "killed within days". Their captors have also said that they would rather die than release the British couple without recompense.

A doctor was allowed to visit each Chandler separately and his found the pair to be fairing as well as they might be, considering:

The doctor's verdict on 60-year-old Mr Chandler was that he was in slightly better health but with a bad cough and a mild fever.

The health of the Chandlers could well be the key issue in this process.

Dr Helmi said the pirates did not seem to be beating their captives, but equally they did not seem to care about making them comfortable.

"They are being held under trees, in very hot conditions - 39C.

"You cannot imagine the food they are eating and the water they are drinking - very bad."

Even so, there are no reported cases of pirates killing captives - either deliberately or through neglect.

The pirates say that negotiations are under way, but like any complex business deal, these things take time.

Somali sources close to the pirates say negotiations "are under way", although they refused to say what exactly was being discussed.

But the experience of other shipping companies suggests the longer the process continues, the more expensive it becomes.

There are reports of pirates delivering itemised invoices, detailing costs such as fuel for their boats, food for the captives and gunmen, ammunition, satellite telephone calls and so on.

The gunmen holding the Chandlers will be running up similar expenses, and security analysts say they will expect to turn a profit.

The Chandlers video statements - and the visit by the doctor - are almost certainly a part of the captors' strategy to put pressure on their family to find the money.

The gunmen are in total control, and nobody gets in to see the hostages, or no message gets out, that they do not think will help their cause.

There seems little doubt the Chandlers are suffering, but just as doubtless is the fact it suits the pirates for the world to know it.

Pirates in the Media: February 6, 2010

Pirates are all over the place in the hearts and minds here in America, the Gasparailla festival was last week, rumors about Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which begins shooting this summer, are weekly news items, and for those of you inclined to add a bit of piracy to your everyday life, here are some video game options to bring high seas action to your living room.

10 Iphone/Ipod apps with piratical themes

The Final Tales of The Secret of Monkey Island are available for the Wii.

Captain Kidd's Cannon will be on display at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

and Little Big Planet has Pirates of the Caribbean content.

But Pirateologist, you might ask, what line item can you offer to amuse and possibly terrify me RIGHT NOW that proves that the high seas are more than simply sackboys, monkeys and plastic swords for the kids? The answer is here, and I leave you with this note so you are forwarned about the dangers that still lurk beneath the oft halcyon surface of the murky deep.

A Jellyfish stung a man who was fishing, 25 feet ABOVE the waterline.

That's right, let that one sink in for a moment.

After some initial communication difficulties because of his distress, the crew was able to determine the patient had been fishing from the ship when the sting occurred.

Air crewman Geoff Abrahams said it was an "incredible case".

"Realistically, what are the chances of being stung by a jellyfish when you are safely on board a bulk carrier, 25 metres above the water," Mr Abrahams said.

"This is one of the most fascinating tasks I've worked on."

Pirates in the News: February 4, 2010

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, emerging successful systems gotta propagate until they reach the boundaries of their sustainability, therefore pirates gotta hijack cargo on the high seas.

That said, Pirates have captured ships from Libya, Cambodia, one full of Hyndais that the car company seems bent on spinning into PR soundbites, one from Singapore, etc... In fact it has reported that pirate attacks are almost doubled between 2008 and 2009. There is plenty of teeth gnashing, gun waving, and suggestions of a harder line approach and analysis of why even with increased military intervention piracy continues to grow.

Somali based pirate rings are expanding their areas of operation, and increasing their numbers because what their doing is revitalizing the economy of their region. Not only are they setting up financial exchanges and investing in real estate, but the depleted fishing along the coast of the Horn of Africa is recovering from the overfishing by international companies, and fisherman along the coast as far as Kenya are able to increasingly maintain their livelihood, all thanks to the threat of pirate attack in those waters.

Fisherman in Kenya have reported bumper catches of shark and shellfish because commercial fishing boats from China and Japan have been scared away.

Now the fishermen are able to catch up to £200 worth of fish per day in an area where the average daily earnings are less than £5.

Like other tax-free areas that maintain their autonomy in complex regions, Somalia's quasi-independent Puntland is seeing a rebirth nourished by the thriving piracy industry.

Ransoms continue to be paid and ships continue to be released with efficiency, even when one sees high profile incidents like shootouts once ransoms have been paid where pirates take out their own compatriots. The simple truth is that most tankers captured are ransomed and released, at increasingly profitable rates for pirates. It's no picnic for sailors but piracy is too effective and distributed to be going away any time soon and shippers have to adapt.

While the military efforts against piracy are continuing to capture and thwart some attacks, finding their resources stretched, the question of what one does with a captured pirate is no less clear than it was two years ago. Different countries suggest that international tribunals are the answer, individual countries try the pirates their warships capture but run into problems both political and legal with a frequency that makes it difficult to create any single method for trial in any one country, much less internationally. Some pirates are simply released because no country wants to try them. The most famous pirate on trial in the USA is still Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, on trial in New York, who I will be devoted another post to later this week.

Interpol is trying to track pirate money, and claims to see no links to al-Qaeda, despite concerns that radical islamist groups are associated with Somali pirate groups.

On a personal note, it's a LOT easier to find pictures of Somali Pirates compared to 2007 when I started this blog and I kept having to reuse that one picture of two guys in a skiff with an AK.

While the idea of "what to do about pirates?" is still very present in dialogue in the west, a group of Somali pirates recently reached out to groups working in Haiti, trying to figure out how they can donate to relief efforts.

The “pirates” typically redistribute a significant portion of their profits
among relatives and the local population. In their operations, the “pirates”
urge transnational corporations that own the cargo confiscated to pay back in
cash as banks can not operate in Somalia.

”The humanitarian aid to Haiti can not be controlled by the United States and
European countries; they have no moral authority to do so. They are the ones
pirating mankind for many years,” said the Somali spokesman.

When observing how piracy has invigorated that area of Africa, despite the parasitic nature of the economy, one cannot help but think that maybe the pirates are on to something.

Ship Graveyard on io9.com

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Pirates in the News: December 12, 2009

Piracy in Somalia and around the world continues to hit the news,

in Spain, the opposition party questioned the choice to pay pirates a ransom for the crew of the trawler Alakrana. The $3.3 Million ransom was paid and the full crew released just before Thanksgiving.

In Kenya, courts are prosecuting many cases of piracy on the high seas but face many problems including translation, sluggish proceedings and international pressure.

The North Korean Captain of the tanker MV Theresa VIII was mortally wounded during the hijacking of the tanker off the Seychelles in November.

In Bangladesh, 16 fishermen went missing and are presumed dead after a pirate attack in the Bay of Bengal.

Eighteen fishermen were assaulted in the Bay of Bengal by a band of 25-30 pirates Friday, said fishermen Shahidullah and Abdur Rahim. Shahidullah like many Bangladeshis uses only one name.

The survivors said the pirates severely beat them and slashed some of the fishermen with knives before throwing them all overboard.

Shahidullah and Rahim were rescued by another fishing boat, but the other fishermen remain missing in waters off Cox's Bazar, a coastal town 185 miles (296 kilometers) south of the capital, Dhaka.

"The pirates took away the boat, fish and nets from us," Shahidullah told The Associated Press.

The British Couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler are still reportedly being held on land in Somalia, and remain in fear for their lives. Their captors continue to release death threats against the pair if ransoms are not paid.

Pirates have captured the Greek Owned, Red Sea Spirit:

"Red Sea Spirit was taken by gunmen off the Yemeni coast last Thursday. She is flying the Panama flag," Mwangura said. "She is a Greek-owned bulk carrier."

The ship was captured off the coast of Yemen. Another Greek ship, the Maran Centaurus captured by somali pirates reached the coast of Somalia on the 2nd of December. Yet a third Greek-Owned ship paid a ransom for the Maltese flagged Ariana which pirates have said they are happy to release:

In the Somali coastal town of Hobyo, a self-proclaimed pirate who gave his name as Ahmed Gedi said his group had been paid $2.8 million to free the Ariana. It was not possible to independently verify the amount of ransom paid. "After we check and count it, we will leave the ship and free it," Gedi told the AP on the phone."

Pirate Economies: the Somalian Pirate Stock Market

Pirates are becoming increasingly media savvy and their international profile has achieved new levels of sophistication in recent months if press coverage is anything to go by. While the news increasingly covers attacks thwarted by international navies, and new ships in the waters: here, here, here, and here.

Media attention is increasingly turning to feel good followups of the Maersk Alabama, Editorial analysis of the approaches begin taken to protect shipping, and like the concept of "victory in Iraq" can we "win against pirates?"

While the debate about piracy is also framed in two interesting ways "the downtrodden impoverished native" versus "the pimping playboy" these two simplifications are interacting in a fascinating cultural development that shows how modern technology is creating a new black-market economy in Somalia. In fact, a Pirate Stock Market has been established and is going strong.

Distributed infrastructure, like cell phones, coupled with the availability of weapons and technologies that allow start ups to make high risk business endeavors (pirate attacks) that put their human capital at risk but yield very high profits if they are successful have led to a new upper class of gang-leaders and warlords on mainland Somalia, who are not only living lavishly by comparison to their employees but also, reinvesting their earnings in these pursuits from the relative safety of their strongholds. The evolution of this business model has hit a new threshold, as years of ransom profits have fueled the creation of a Stock Market in Haradheere.

The Haradheere Market as reported by Reuters, comprises 72 'maritime companies' and investment in stock in the companies is publicly available. This investment opportunity is significant in several ways: It is protected by local government, and benefits the district-

"Piracy-related business has become the main profitable economic activity in our area and as locals we depend on their output," said Mohamed Adam, the town's deputy security officer.

"The district gets a percentage of every ransom from ships that have been released, and that goes on public infrastructure, including our hospital and our public schools."

and provides economic opportunity and a community center for those in the pirate industry.

"Given the choice of moving with his parents to Lego, their ancestral home in Middle Shabelle where strict Islamist rebels have banned most entertainment including watching sport, or joining the pirates, he opted to head for Haradheere.

Now he guards a Thai fishing boat held just offshore.

"First I decided to leave the country and migrate, but then I remembered my late colleagues who died at sea while trying to migrate to Italy," he told Reuters. "So I chose this option, instead of dying in the desert or from mortars in Mogadishu."

Haradheere's "stock exchange" is open 24 hours a day and serves as a bustling focal point for the town. As well as investors, sobbing wives and mothers often turn up there seeking news of male relatives missing in action.

This example of economic development shows capitalism in action, the options provided by the pirate industry are high risk, but the risks are not that much higher than other economic options in the region, in fact, with such significant rewards and the implementation of a stock market to increase investment profits are up.

"Ransoms have even increased in recent months from between $2-3 million to $4 million because of the increased number of shareholders and the risks," he said.

"Let the anti-piracy navies continue their search for us. We have no worries because our motto for the job is 'do or die'."

Piracy investor Sahra Ibrahim, a 22-year-old divorcee, was lined up with others waiting for her cut of a ransom pay-out after one of the gangs freed a Spanish tuna fishing vessel.

"I am waiting for my share after I contributed a rocket-propelled grenade for the operation," she said, adding that she got the weapon from her ex-husband in alimony.

"I am really happy and lucky. I have made $75,000 in only 38 days since I joined the 'company'."

In Foreign Policy, Elizabeth Dickenson has been covering the Somali pirate situation and says the following in regards to enforcement of international law:

As I argued earlier this year, piracy is becoming increasingly like drug trafficking: it's not the little guys who you want to go after. It's the big financial gurus who are making bank. In that vein, news of a 'stock market' of sorts might just be good news. That money must be being laundered somewhere... meaning there's a chance financial sanctions could cut deep. It's pirates' pockets that are their Achilles heels.

Until then the western world has to ask, at what point does a 'pirate economy' become a regular 'economy'? Both in our definition of the crimes, and whether or not this criminal market infrastructure won't eventually lead to legal economic development?

Pirates in the Media: December 10, 2009

Bruce Wayne is lost in a time stream in an upcoming 6 comic release from DC.

That's right Pirate Batman.

In addition, Rob Marshall, director of the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" is excited to work with Johnny Depp. And who wouldn't be?

"I think [Disney is] probably looking for a fresh approach," he explained. "I think it's good when you're doing these series' of films, like 'Harry Potter.' It's nice to bring in a fresh approach." The real question is, how does Marshall define "fresh"?

"I don't know yet. Johnny's playing Captain Jack, so that's there," he revealed. "It'll be its own thing. I'll approach it as a film." This confirmation is at odds with that he'd only do another "Pirates" if he read a script that was "worthy of the audience's attention," but Marshall is pretty sure the actor is in.

Taking a break from his busy Dinosaur Skull purchasing schedule; as part of a UN Goodwill tour, Nicolas Cage met with imprisoned pirates in Kenya.

The actor visited Shimo La Tewa prison in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa to interact with suspected Somali pirates awaiting trial and know the reason behind the increase in piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Also, Michael Crichton, who died in 2008, is going to have his final manuscript, Pirate Lattitudes posthumously published. The film rights have been secured by Stephen Spielberg.

Set in the Caribbean in 1665, Latitudes is nothing like Crichton's last novel, Next (2006), a cautionary tale about genetic research. It's more history as entertainment, as in The Great Train Robbery (1975), which he set in Victorian England.

It stars a dashing Harvard-educated English privateer, Charles Hunter. With the colonial governor's unofficial blessing, he sets out to capture a Spanish galleon laden with treasure.

The novel is laden with violence and sex. Throats are cut, along with less public body parts.

There's little of what English teachers call "character development." But what colorful characters, including a tough female pirate who dresses as a man. In raids, she's in the "habit of baring her breasts in order to confuse and terrify the enemy."

Crichton has done his homework on nautical matters. His cinematic descriptions and sex scenes waste few words.

If that's not enough, there's a hurricane and sea monster that should put Spielberg's special-effects team to the test.