The Pirates of Somalia

The operational area of the Somali pirates was thought to be nearly one million square miles of ocean. This was based on the assumption that the limit of the pirates' strike capacity was approximately 250 nautical miles. The attack earlier this week on the supertanker Sirius Star took place on the open seas east of Tanzania, some 450 nautical miles southeast of the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

If this is not just a onetime deal and the pirates have actually expanded their reach just as they have expanded their tactical capabilities by reinvesting some of their profits in better equipment, then the area that would need to be secured would be between two and three million square miles.

This would require not only more naval vessels than are currently deployed to the region, but a significant increase in the number of patrol aircraft. The resources simply are not there at the moment.

Certainly convoys are a possibility that the private sector could consider in building up their self-defense posture. Naval escorts for convoys would also make protection and deterrence much easier.

However, given the volume of trade and ship movements in the area, it is not an easy undertaking.