After 8 years of hard work one of the main Somali pirates, Mohammed Abdi Hassan, has decided to retire. One can only guess about how much he managed to earn during his criminal career, because it was his gang which was behind the most high-profile attacks on ships. In particular, the seizure of the Ukrainian cargo ship “Faina” with T-72 tanks on board is also in his account.
His gang members following his example have also decided to retire. The mass exodus of Somalis from piracy is a clear evidence of the success of the international anti-piracy efforts, in particular, of the Russian warships, says military analyst of newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda Victor Baranets:
“In the world there are about 30 regions, where the pirates are highly operative. Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden are the so-called hot spots where fishing vessels are very often attacked. Russian warships almost continuously have been patrolling in at least five of the pirates hot spots. And we have many times received appreciation from countries whose vessels were rescued by our warships from pirates. Unfortunately, however, a UN rapid reaction force to pirates’ seizures has not yet been created. “
Russia the other day announced that it will be sending some of its Black Sea Fleet to the Horn of Africa, where those will conduct anti-piracy exercises. At various times in anti-piracy fights many ships of the Russian Navy, such as Admiral Levchenko, Admiral Chabanenko, Admiral Panteleyev, frigate Undaunted were involved.
According to experts, 2012 witnessed first major results in the fight of international community against piracy. A large role in this was played by the permit granting to deal with pirates not only at sea, but also on land, from where their robbery attacks were originated. Thanks to the international efforts, in the second half of 2012 not a single ship was seized by pirates.
