On 9 January 2009, Somali
pirates released the MV Sirius Star and
her
crew of twenty-five after payment of a $3,000,000
ransom. This very
large
crude carrier, transporting 2.2 million barrels of oil
from Saudi
Arabia to the
United States, had been captured 450 miles off the coast
of Africa the
previous
November. One day before her release, the U.S. Navy
announced the
formation of
Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151). Rear Admiral Terry
McKnight was
assigned to
command this international team of naval vessels in the
fight against
piracy in
the Gulf of Aden (also known as Pirate Alley).
Somali pirates in small
skiffs with AK-47s seize vessels, detain the crew, and
demand
exorbitant
ransoms in exchange for the seafarers, the ships, and
the cargo. The
reward is
high and the risk is low, since many captured pirates
are often
released rather
than being tried, convicted, and imprisoned. Pirate Alley
details how CTF 151 counters these pirates and
explains the difficulties faced in bringing them to
justice, as well as
the
changes shipping companies are making to secure their
vessels and crews
that transit
this dangerous corridor.
The book opens with a
foreword by Jim Miklaszewski, a Pentagon correspondent
for NBC News,
who spent
time with McKnight aboard the Vella Gulf.
In the preface McKnight explains why he wrote this book,
while the
prologue
discusses the taking of MV Danica White
in 2007 – an incident which forced “the U. S. Navy to
get about Somali
piracy”.
(xv) The subsequent thirteen chapters cover a variety of
topics related
to
piracy and counterpiracy.
Rules
of Engagement
Finally, Terry Meets the
Pirates
Piracy 101
Best Management Practices
Should Merchant Ships Be
Armed?
Crime without Punishment
To Pay or Not to Pay
Attack on the Maersk
Alabama
Hostage in the Lifeboat
The Rescue of Captain
Phillips
Chopstick Diplomacy on the
High Seas
Strategy and Tactics
A Course to Steer (A Global
Force for Commerce, Let’s Form a Posse, and Ransoms –
It’s All about
the Money)
Maps, interviews with experts
on Somalia and Somali piracy, charts, and photographs
enhance the text.
The
index makes it easy to quickly locate needed material.
Pirate Alley
is a frank, no-holds-barred examination of Somali piracy
from the
perspective
of an insider tasked with fighting this scourge. “I saw
pirates up
close, saw
the havoc they raised and the economic, emotional, and
physical toll
they
took.” (35) In addition to McKnight’s personal
assessments and
evaluations, his
inclusion of perspectives from authoritative people for
whom the study
of
Somali piracy is a day-to-day occupation provides a
wealth of
information not
readily found in other books on this topic. Pirate
Alley
is fascinating, insightful, down-to-earth, and
written in
terms a lay
person unfamiliar with law, piracy, or the navy can
easily comprehend.
Pirates
and Privateers
