Are Convoys The Solution To Somali Piracy Crisis?

TODD PITMAN

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. employed them during World War II: armed convoys on the high seas to protect Allied shipping lanes from German subs. Could the same work with pirates?

Some maritime experts say escorting the more than 20,000 ships that transit the Horn of Africa every year would be impractical, outstripping available military resources and at a cost that would be too high. But the tactic is being revisited, and NATO is considering it.

"It's true that it's more expensive to convoy, but it's worth the money," said Peter D. Zimmerman, an American professor emeritus at King's College in London. "There is a clear and present danger, and it's extremely corrosive to the maritime system to allow these pirates to operate with impunity."

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is the shortest route from Asia to Europe. It's one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and these days among its most dangerous.

Piracy is skyrocketing in the region and at least 79 attacks have been reported this year, compared with only 21 in all of 2003, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Pirates are now holding more than 280 foreign crewmen on 15 ships — at least 76 of those sailors captured in recent days.