Frankly, I believed that with evaporating of the Somalia piracy we’ll walk off the so-called “Studies on The Economic Cost of Somalia Piracy” (SECS further on), which were diligently concocted by “Oceans beyond Piracy (OBP)” Foundation, whatever this Foundation really is. I didn’t expect any excuses or remorse from either OBP staff, or those who initiated and supported those Studies – IMO, BIMCO and a number of other institutions, which regretfully, represent the shipping in the eyes of general public.
The sharp reduction in pirate activity off the Somali coast since 2010 has cut the annual cost (for anti-piracy measures) to shipping companies in half (to about $3 billion). That is a huge relief to the shipping companies, the sailors on those ships and the people of East Africa who saw imports get a bit more expensive to pay for the increased security costs.
This is all a big change from just a few years ago. In 2010 pirate activity had reached levels of activity not seen in over a century. But over the next three years the problem was fixed. By 2013 attacks on ships by Somali pirates had declined 95 percent from the 2010 peak and the activity is going lower in 2014.