Nobody Aboard: The Mary Celeste, December 1872
A brigantine was found drifting between the Azores and Portugal, seaworthy, cargo intact and crew gone. Juma examines the Gibraltar salvage hearing, the alcohol cargo and the theories a sailor finds p…
The Years Off Eyl: How Somali Piracy Rose and Fell, 2005 to 2012
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Show notes
The years off Eyl
Between 2005 and 2012 hundreds of ships were attacked off the Horn of Africa, and at the peak dozens of vessels and hundreds of crew were held at anchor off towns like Eyl and Hobyo. Juma served in the region and speaks to a former chief officer who was held for five months.
- Fishing grounds, collapsed institutions and the start of the ransom model
- Skiffs, mother ships and how an attack actually unfolded
- Citadels, razor wire and the Best Management Practices that changed outcomes
- Operation Atalanta and the coordination between navies
- Why the numbers fell so sharply after 2012
A recent chapter, told with respect for the seafarers who lived through it.
Transcript
Welcome back to Dead Reckoning. I am Juma Otieno. Last time we drifted with the Mary Celeste. Today we come much closer to home, to the waters off Somalia that I patrolled in my twenties. Between 2005 and 2012 the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean became the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world. Small skiffs with ladders and outboard motors took tankers and container ships ten times their size, and crews spent months at anchor off towns like Eyl while negotiators argued over ransoms. I have spoken to a chief officer who was held for five months and who agreed to tell his story. We will look at how it started, how an attack actually happened, and what the shipping industry and the navies did that finally brought the numbers down. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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