Terry McKnight - Pirate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151 Off Somalia

PIRATE ALLEY

PIRATE
ALLEY

Commanding Task Force 151 off Somalia

RADM TERRY McKNIGHT, USN (RET.), AND MICHAEL HIRSH

Naval Institute Press
Annapolis, Maryland

This book has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest.

Naval Institute Press

291 Wood Road

Annapolis, MD 21402

2012 by Terence McKnight and Michael Hirsh

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McKnight, Terry.

Pirate Alley : commanding Task Force 151 off Somalia / Terry McKnight and Michael Hirsh ; foreword by Jim Miklaszewski.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-61251-135-1 (e-book) 1. PiratesSomalia21st century. 2. PiracySomalia21st century. 3. PiracyAden, Gulf of21st century. 4. Combined Task Force 151 (International Naval Task Force) 5. Hijacking of shipsSomaliaPrevention. 6. Hijacking of shipsAden, Gulf of Prevention. 7. SomaliaHistory, Naval21st century. 8. Aden, Gulf ofHistory, Naval 21st century. I. Hirsh, Michael, 1943-II. Title.

DT403.2.M37 2012

364.164096773dc23

2012027964

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First printing

For my wife, Lisa
and for our two wonderful children
T and Tyler

Also, for all the dedicated men and women who have served our nation
especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom.

Never give up laughing and loving

CONTENTS

Good morning. Were coming to you live from the deck of the U.S. warship Vella Gulf in the heart of Pirate Alley.

NBC News, 10 February 2009

B y early 2009 piracy off the Horn of Africa had exploded. Pirates in small skiffs and armed only with AK-47s were brazenly hijacking huge merchant ships, seizing cargo and crews, demanding millions of dollars in ransom. Remarkably, these small bands of pirates operated with such impunity that those crowded shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden became known as Pirate Alley.

The story was a reporters dream. Never in my wildest imagination as the Pentagon correspondent for NBC News did I see myself caught up in a high-seas hunt for pirates. Yet there we were that February, broadcasting live from the Gulf of Aden, using the latest in twenty-first-century portable satellite technology to report on a pirate threat as ancient as seafaring itself.

From the bridge of the guided-missile cruiser Vella Gulf, Rear Adm. Terry McKnight had a front-row seat. He had just taken command of the newly formed Combined Task Force 151, an international alliance of naval forces whose sole mission was counterpiracy. In this book McKnight pulls no punches. Its a straightforward, honest account of the daunting challenges, bureaucratic hang-ups, and tough choices facing the international community in combating piracy.

The largely lawless coastal region of Somalia at the very tip of the Horn of Africa remains a perfect breeding ground and safe haven for pirates. And as ransom demands have soared to $8 million, investors have poured huge sums of money into pirate operations in exchange for a 60 percent share of the take.

For the pirates themselves, the reward/risk ratio is through the roof. Their cut of the ransom in a single hijacking can set them up for life. Even if captured, they know theres little chance theyll end up in jail. Most pirates are simply disarmed and set free in what military officials derisively call catch and release. Few countries are willing or able to jail pirates, and in many cases criminal prosecutions and convictions can be difficult.

But the tide is gradually turning. While pirate attacks have dramatically risen over the past several years, successful hijackings are down. Aggressive counterpiracy operations by a multinational mix of naval forces have pirates on the run. And the shipping industry itself has finally stepped up to confront the threat.

The simplest defensive measuressteering an evasive course, posting watch, or stringing razor wire along deck railingshave thwarted countless pirate boardings. But the most effective deterrent is also the most controversial.

Armed security forces are now deployed on board many merchant vessels. Out on the open seas it may be impossible to ever know how many pirates have been killed by these private security contractors. In March 2010 a gunfight broke out between security forces and pirates attempting to board the cargo ship Almezaan. One pirate was killed; six were captured. The International Maritime Bureau immediately warned that such action may only increase pirate violence. McKnight himself is torn. He writes that he prefers merchant ships not be armed but then concludes, No civilian ship with an armed security team on board has ever been successfully boarded.

On our embark aboard the Vella Gulf we discovered that hunting pirates can be much like fishing: You should have been here yesterday. We didnt encounter a single pirate. But we did witness what could only be described as a fresh take on gunboat diplomacy.

All eyes were on a Russian destroyer, Admiral Vinogradov, escorting a convoy of merchant ships through Pirate Alley when the radios on the Vella Gulf crackled to life. It was a distress call from a cargo ship about to be attacked by pirates. But the cruisers SH-60 Seahawk helicopter was already on patrol and could not respond in time. Without hesitation, the skipper, Capt. Mark Genung, barked, Weve got to talk to the Russians. Admiral McKnight was on the radio in an instant. In no time, in a very heavy Russian accent, the commander of the Vinogradov responded: American warship, we will launch our helicopter in ten minutes.

In the end it was a false alarm, but the irony and significance of what had just happened was lost on no one. These former Cold War enemies had cooperated in a joint military operation at sea. Any past rivalries were pushed aside as the Russian Helix helicopter circled the Vella Gulf, so close you could see the smiles on the faces of the Russian crew. A grateful Terry McKnight invited the Russian skipper to lunch the following day.