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Financial Times, UK November 11, 2008 EDITORIAL Hardly a week goes by these days without news of yet another vessel being hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. On Tuesday, a chemical tanker with 23 Filipino crew was taken hostage. Last week, a Danish ship with 13 people on board was overrun. The week before that, a Turkish bulk carrier was hijacked en route from Canada to Asia. The roll-call of attacks and hostage-taking off the Horn of Africa is a cause for alarm. Piracy, of course, is hardly a new phenomenon. Criminal gangs have been exacting treasure on the high seas for centuries. But the lawlessness off Somalia – in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes – needs to be stopped by concerted international action. This is not just because of the scale of the problem, with some 83 ships coming under attack this year. There is also evidence that shipowners and insurers, which have this year paid out $20m in ransoms, are avoiding the region. Last week, a big shipping company became the first to confirm it is re-routing all vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, rather than transiting the Suez canal. This makes the distance from the Middle East to the US some 30 per cent longer, adding to the cost of oil and commodities. So far, western governments have responded well to the crisis. Two international naval forces – one run by Nato – are enjoying some success in tackling the criminals. This week, the European Union finalised plans to send its own taskforce to the region at the end of the year. Even so, the problem is far from resolved. The Somali gangs operate across a huge expanse of water, covering thousands of kilometres, and are hard to contain. Somalia, meanwhile, is a failed state, unable or unwilling to take action. Until it does so, nothing will stop these gangs engaging in lucrative crime. Still, the main powers should be far more robust in acting against piracy. Right now, naval forces operating in the region can disrupt an attempted hijack but some experts argue that they lack the legal basis on which to arrest and prosecute gangs. The United Nations Security Council should therefore look to pass a resolution that is far more explicit about the military action that can be taken by governments against the pirates. An international court could also be established at the Hague to bring pirates to justice. Governments cannot ignore the crisis in the Gulf of Aden. The rewards for piracy are high and the problem will grow. One day this phenomenon will trigger a serious environmental disaster, and/or heavy loss of life. It is time to act.