After a quiet start to the year, the Somali pirates are back in a big way hijacking six ships in five days. An American destroyer is currently alongside the Maersk Alabama trying to help secure the release of the ship's......more
Rob Crilly - African Safari
Recently in pirates Category
A Good Day for the Pirates
Pirates with the MV Faina (US Navy pic) It looks like The Faina, hijacked by Somali pirates in September with 33 Russian tanks destined for South Sudan, is finally being freed for a record $3.2-3.5m ransom. No definitive confirmation from the......more
Piracy Faces Challenge - Possibly...
Expect to see the current decline in pirate attacks continue, if my sources have got it right. The reason - although the Yanks are keen to claim "mission accomplished" on behalf of their maritime patrols - is the election of......more
My African Predictions for 2009
This year I lost $200 in bets on the US presidential election and remain committed to swimming naked to Tuti island in the middle of the Nile on my next visit to Khartoum. That is not enough to stop me......more
Britain, Leaks and those Awkward Tanks
The manifest from the Faina obtained by Reuters and the BBC If this ever gets out it will not be good for UK-Kenya relations, the latter never slow to accuse the former of meddling in Kenyan affairs, maintaining a colonialist......more
An Opportunity Waiting to be Missed in Somalia
The Shabaab stepped up its campaign in Somalia yesterday taking war to Puntland and Somaliland. At a meeting in Kismayo in July the Islamists decided to open new fronts in their battle to force out Ethiopia and bring down the......more
A Load of Garbage
World piracy map produced by the International Maritime Bureau Al Jazeera, I see, is furthering its reputation for impartial and balanced reporting from the Muslim world with this corker on the pirates... Somali pirates have accused European firms of......more
Pirates Smuggle Somalia on to the Agenda
Johnny Depp as Jack SparrowIt has become fashionable among some of my colleagues in Nairobi to express irritation at the level of interest the world is showing in Somalia's pirates. The argument is generally expressed by pointing out that Somalia......more
Shooting the Messenger Again
Andrew Mwangura, piracy expert, in Mombasa The Kenyan government has already slagged off journalists for reporting on piracy, the UN's special representative has accused us of passing on pirate propaganda, and now it's my old pal, Andrew Mwangura, who is......more
It's All Our Fault
It's starting to look as if the problems in Somalia are all down to the inability of journalists to cover the conflict there properly - rather than say the complete hash of things made by the country's neighbours, the United......more
Rob Crilly in Jerusalem
Rob Crilly is a freelance journalist based in Jerusalem writing for The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Mail. He spent...