The pirates of the Indian Ocean, based on the lawless shores of Somalia in east Africa, become more dangerous as the months go by. But they may soon face a new challenge from a privately organised "convoy escort programme" (CEP) after the manifest failure of international conventional naval forces to deter them.
The pirates are probably not quaking in their seaboots, because they still have the upper hand in their campaign to fleece shipping companies, their insurers and even private individuals on yachts whom they suspect of being rich. Paul and Rachel Chandler from Britain, though not wealthy, were held for more than a year. Last week, a private yacht with four Americans aboard was seized off Oman on the way to the Suez canal. But the serious money lies in big ships, notably tankers, and their often immensely valuable cargoes. This month a tanker with £125m in oil aboard was stormed and two seamen died in a hail of bullets.
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