Somali Pirate Chief Reveals their Business Model

Rainer — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:59:37 +0000

(MÊLÉE ISLAND) Somali Pirate chief reveals their business model exclusively™ to LIME. The interviewed pirate chief is kept anonymous for his security
“A [basic piracy] operation requires planning, money and patience. To successfully capture a ship requires more than just peg-legged men in a boat with guns and parrots on their shoulders. A minimum of eight to twelve units of militia are required to stay at sea in alert for extended periods of time to keep an eye on a vessel suitable for hijacking. Due to the nature of expense this kind of operation requires we’re constantly trying to find a suitable headcount balance capable of hijacking a cargo ship while still not negatively affecting on our coverage or SLA.
A team requires facilities and tools. A basic minimum requirement would be two attack skiffs per team with the required boarding equipment, provisions, fuel and weapons. In addition we normally try to include a supply boat. The costs of starting an operation like this are quite high and generally covered by a group of investors, of whom some may also be pirates. Taking into account the risk involved on an invest like this the investors are granted a relative valued “A-shares” of any profit and the investment expenses are paid before the profit it shared between the shareholders.

To acquire a role of a pirate the applicant, volunteer, should already possess the basic arms used in the operation. For contributing skills and tools this role is rewarded with an A-share. If a pirate can provide also heavy firearms such as a bazooka, RPG launcher or a heavy machine gun the provider is rewarded with an additional A-share. First one to board the hijacked ship is generally also granted with an additional share.

In addition to the pirates militiamen are required. Usually round 12-15 men. The militia are recruited to provide protection on land and each member may also bring a friend or a partner for added protection on land. Like pirates, the militiamen need to supply their own weapons and ammunition. Each individual of the militia is rewarded with a fixed valued “B-share”.

A successful hijack is not the end of the expenses on an operation. The pirates, militiamen and the captured crew require food, drink, clothing, medicine, and basic facilities. Additional expenses would include contacting the owner of the ship, mobile phones, cameras and video editing facilities, etc. Generally these services are outsourced and provided by one or more suppliers. The suppliers provide their services either by cash on demand or, more often, through a bill and interest upon the team receiving the ransom. The suppliers also generally increase their prices through the operation.
A special attention is placed on the captured crew to avoid negative PR: according to a research the general public stays much more understanding towards the hijackings as long as the crew is kept alive and well. As long as the only breaking headline is a captured vessel the operations can go on and wont draw too much attention.

When the ransom is received the fixed costs are deducted. Fixed costs include typically reimbursement for the suppliers, return of invest to the investors, which may be as high as third of the ransom, anchoring rights subtraction to the local elders and the B-class shares. A-shareholders share the remainder of the profit.

The existing model grants suitable ROI for the investors while still keeping the staff motivated to take part in future ventures.”

Somali rivals agree to recognize each other

Rainer — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:31:11 +0000

The government of Somalia and the fighting islamists agree to recognize each other. After high level Sudan led meeting the sides have agreed that the government and islamists will from now on greet each other when passing each other on the street. In the same breath they agree not to call each other with silly names anymore.
The representative of the islamists Mohamed Ali Ibrahim stated that they “won’t offend those heretic dogs anymore” and the Somali Foreign Minister, Abdullahi Sheekh Ismail agreed and added that they expect form “long lasting coalition with the backstabbing sons of bitches”.

More accurate news from the Reuters

LIME » Africa

Somali Pirate Chief Reveals their Business Model

Somali rivals agree to recognize each other