Somalia’s Pirates Seize 33 Tanks Sarah Welch 9/26/08 4:50 p.m.

A Ukrainian ship was captured of the coast of Somalia and was forced to give up 33 of their tanks among other weapons. It was said the ship was sailing using a Belize flag to Mombasa. Recently, there has been an increase in piracy off the coast of Somalia. Countries have agreed to start carrying out anti-piracy patrols in the waters off Somalia. Somalia hasn’t had a stable government for 17 years thus leading to a “collapse of law at land and sea.” The UN has found Somalia pirates currently hijacked a dozen ships and are making an estimated $100 million a year from ransoms. The Ukrainian prime minister confirms “33 Russian T-72’s and a substantial amount of ammunition aboard.” This incident has proven that among other hijackings in this area, Somalia’s coast has become a “global security problem.” Piracy in this area has become such a threat that international navies have to assist with aid deliveries. In my opinion, this piracy is seemingly creeping up on the globe without any attention. Somalia’s in a bad situation without any sort of law or government to deal with such acts thus cannot stop them. In a perfect world, the United Nations would have the control to stop this piracy, however, the pirates of Somalia are gaining more strength and are now harder to combat with. Action must be taken before this problem develops into a global piracy and aid relief won’t be able to help countries in need at all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7637257.stm