Piracy

Even though the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 12 innings in April, Piracy is coming back to haunt Chicago. On Saturday, a Saudi Arabian oil tanker carrying over $100 million worth of oil bound for the United States was captured by Somali pirates off the coast of Kenya. This is the latest in an increasing series of piracy incidents by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. International Piracy hits Chicago in the cost of our gas, the price of goods in stores, and the lives of our military personnel who are fighting terrorists and stationed on ships protecting the sea lanes of transportation. This particular incident might touch a little closer because many of the personnel in the United States 5th Fleet, which is patrolling the region, went through Great Lakes Naval Station before being assigned to their vessals.

Hijackings off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden, an area of more than one-million square miles, make up one-third of all global piracy incidents this year, according the International Maritime Bureau, a British based organization that tracks maritime issues. There have been at least 83 acknowledged pirate attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year, 33 of them successful enough to command a ransom for the more than 200 crew still being held along the Somali coast. Much of the ransom money from previous hijackings has been used to buy new boats and weapons as well as develop a network across the Horn of Africa.

The success of the pirates may also strengthen the hand of radical Islamists in Somalia if gunmen abandon their poorly paid defense of the feeble transitional Somali government in Mogadishu for the promise of adventures and riches at sea. According to the Economist, “For America, the case of the Sirius Star (Saudi Arabian oil tanker) underlines longstanding concerns that piracy off Somalia, still strictly mercenary, might soon attract jihadist operators.”

Partly because of this threat, and the cost that piracy is having on international trade, the waters off of Somalia are now being patrolled by an international naval force. But given the huge area over which the pirates are now operating, more warships alone are unlikely to solve the problem. Commander Jane Campbell, of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, warned shipping companies that the United States naval presence could "not be everywhere".

The cost to the Chicago consumer comes from shipping companies paying higher insurance premiums and cargo ships taking longer and safer routes to ports, which would cause delays in delivery times. Such delays could even slow Chicago manufacturing and cost jobs as many of the industries in this area rely on parts assembled in different countries being shipped to Chicago for final assembly into a finished product.