Deadly Water: the Secret World of Somalia’s Pirates - Jay Bahadur, 12-9-11

For centuries, pirates have captured the imagination of people everywhere.  But the recent gangs of daring, ragtag pirates off the coast of Somalia, hijacking the crew and passengers of huge ships for ransom, have brought the scourge of piracy into the modern era.  As recently as the end of August, Somali prates were holding 17 ships with an estimated 375 hostages.  And piracy is estimating to be adding $15 billion a year to the costs of global trade in insurance, security measures and increased journey times. To explore this phenomenon, and the response from the international community to combat it, we are pleased to present Jay Bahadur, the only Western journalist to venture deeply into this world. Mr Bahadur ventured to Puntland, the pirate base in north-eastern Somalia, to observe the pirates first hand as they planned and carried out attacks.  Some pirates claim they are operating a form of volunteer Coast Guard as the Somali State has disintegrated through civil war.  However, as piracy has become substantially more lucrative in recent years, financial gain is now seen as the primary motive.  Mr Bahadur has also interviewed some of the security personnel charged with combating piracy, as well as former pirate hostages who lived under captivity on ships, sometimes for months, while awaiting news of a ransom to secure their freedom. Jay Bahadur is a Canadian freelance journalist, who has corresponded for ‘The Times’, ‘The New York Times’, the’ Financial Times’, and CBS News.  He now runs the international news website Journalist