Somali Pirates Raise Record $9 Million Ransom

Quick, what's the difference between a bailed-out banker with an outsize bonus and a Somali pirate? Well, in the words of the immortal Woodie Guthrie:

Yes, as through this world I've wandered,

I've seen lots of funny men;

Some will rob you with a six-gun,

And some with a fountain pen.

In commercial terms, the pirates are having a terrific year. The rebound in the global economy means that shipping lanes are active. And practical, solutions-minded shipping magnates have no qualms whatsoever about negotiating with pirates who seize their vessels in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles off the coast of Somalia. They understand that arming these vessels would introduce new and dangerous risks into their operations, and that maintaining a private army falls well outside of their core skill set. It is far more sensible to accept the concept that plunder and looting have always been a risk in the global shipping trade, and that it is best to view a certain level of ransom as an unfortunate but necessary cost of doing business, sort of like paying those annoying fines to the SEC.

For their part, at a time when terrorists and global drug cartels from Mexico to Brazil have pushed violence to mind-numbing levels, the Somali pirates seem positively businesslike, avoiding unnecessary gunplay and raising capital in an orderly fashion on a small stock exchange.

On Monday, this booming trade produced its biggest deal ever. The Financial Times reports that "The Maran Centaurus, which was seized on November 29, 762 nautical miles off Somalia’s east coast, was released at 8.30 a.m. local time, according to a statement issued by London-based Maran Tankers Management, the vessel’s operator. Maran Tankers is part of the Athens-based, privately held Angelicoussis Group, one of the world’s largest operators of oil tankers." It said the $9 million ransom was the highest in the history of Somali pirate attacks.

Agence France Presse puts the ransom in perspective: "Somali pirates raked in a total of 50 million dollars in ransom money in 2008, less than half of Christiano Ronaldo's transfer fee to Real Madrid but a substantial amount for Somalia's remote fishing communities."

The tanker was loaded with $150 million worth of oil. As AFP notes, the thought of a firefight erupting on the deck of the vessel seems to have focused all minds on a businesslike resolution to the standoff.