Last Saturday was a sad day for world trade, with Somali pirates seizing a Saudi-owned tanker carrying US$100 million worth of oil. The Sirius Star was hijacked 450 miles off the coast of Kenya, becoming the largest vessel ever hijacked.

If you thought that piracy was the stuff of old swashbuckling tales, think again. Indeed, the Sirius Star incident is merely the highest-profile hijacking of its kind. Although the Horn of Africa has emerged as a major piracy hub, the International Maritime Bureau identified other areas vulnerable to evil doers on the high seas. Click here to view the map. Besides the Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, the Bay of Bengal, and the waters surrounding Indonesia are key danger zones.

Pirate Risks To East-West Trade
As you can see from the map, the areas of pirate activity are along the key trade route that links Europe (via the Suez Canal and the Horn of Africa) and the Middle East with Asia. This is one of the most important shipping routes in the world.

Hardly surprising, then, that Asia’s bigger countries have already swung into action. India’s navy sank a pirate ‘mothership’ late on Tuesday, and South Korea plans to send a warship soon. So too does Japan, provided that it can pass the relevant legislation (Japan’s pacifist constitution limits its international military activities). Not to be outdone, NATO and Russia had already started patrols in the western Indian Ocean in the past two months.

Indeed, the Great Powers can hardly afford to ignore piracy. If such attacks were to increase, the costs of international shipping would rise sharply and thus be passed onto consumers. There is also the credibility issue. If the Great Powers cannot guarantee the safety of global shipping, then it would be open season for pirates. Global trade could take a severe hit.

Given that global demand for goods is faltering as a result of recession, the last thing the world’s manufacturers and consumers need is pirates making matters worse. But why has Somalia become a new piracy nexus? Two reasons: 1) Its proximity to the Suez route; and 2) The lack of the central government’s authority over the entire country.

The Struggle For The Indian Ocean
Overall, though, the rush by the major and aspiring powers to deploy ships to the region reflects the rising geopolitical importance – or at least perceptions of such importance – of the Indian Ocean. China has in recent years pursued a ‘string of pearls’ strategy aimed at forging close relations with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Pakistan – all of which straddle the key East-West trade route – potentially with a view to establishing a naval presence in these countries. Unsurprisingly, India and Japan, not wishing to be ‘contained’ by China, nor have Beijing dominate their economic lifelines, are also seeking to boost their naval forces – although India is far ahead of Japan, given its proximity to events.

Meanwhile, Russia is planning to revive its own navy’s power, and has spoken of re-establishing its naval base in Yemen, right next to the Horn of Africa, while NATO seems keen to globalise some of its operations. Thus, the key question is whether the Great Powers’ enhanced Indian Ocean naval presence will focus on defeating piracy, or on keeping an eye on one another.