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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared German student attacks Hell's Angels with puppy 15 Jun 2010 Obese have worse sexual health despite less sex 15 Jun 2010 Nutrients may be why some smokers avoid cancer 15 Jun 2010 Twilight studio sues to stop sale of Bella jacket 1:55am EDT Pentagon seeks patience in Afghan "roller coaster" 11:15am EDT There's more water on the moon than anyone thought 15 Jun 2010 Miley Cyrus "no underwear" photo is fake, blogger says 15 Jun 2010 UPDATE 2-France lifts retirement age to balance pension books 5:43am EDT Game on: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft wage war | Video 10:27am EDT Pakistan holds American man hunting bin Laden 15 Jun 2010 German student attacks Hell's Angels with puppy 15 Jun 2010 Nutrients may be why some smokers avoid cancer 15 Jun 2010 Soros: European recession next year "almost inevitable" 15 Jun 2010 Obese have worse sexual health despite less sex 15 Jun 2010 Pakistan holds American man hunting bin Laden 15 Jun 2010 There's more water on the moon than anyone thought 15 Jun 2010 Those who eat brown rice may have less diabetes 14 Jun 2010 AT&T hit with order and privacy complaints over iPhone 10:26am EDT BofA to limit duration of trades with BP 15 Jun 2010 Special Report: Big Pharma's stalled R&D machine 7:33am EDT Hi-tech navies take on Somalia's pirates Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent NORTHWOOD HEADQUARTERS Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:13am EDT Factbox Factbox: Ships held by Somali pirates 7:32am EDT Portuguese Navy Frigate NRP ''Alvares Cabral'' special forces marines capture a pirate group that attacked the Spanish flagged fishing vessel ''Ortube Berria'' in the Indian Ocean in this NATO handout photo made available November 30, 2009. Credit: Reuters/NATO/Handout NORTHWOOD HEADQUARTERS England (Reuters) - How do you tell the difference between a Somali pirate in a small boat and a largely identical but innocent fisherman? It all comes down to the ladders. World Pirates often take fishing gear out with them into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean to help feed themselves, and fishermen from the lawless country often carry AK-47s for self protection. Grappling hooks can be easily hidden out of sight. But if naval officers see a small boat with long metal ladders lashed to the deck, they say they know for sure the occupants have set to sea with only one thing in mind. That means maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters flying along the Somali beach can pick out pick out so-called "pirate action groups" putting to sea and feed the information back to warship and command center operations rooms. "You can see the giveaway signs that this is a pirate gathering," says Andreas Kutsch, a German naval officer working as an assistant chief of staff for the EU's anti-piracy task force, using a laser pointer to show the ladders among the brightly colored plastic containers for spare fuel and water. "Fishermen don't need ladders." Boarding merchant vessels, sailing them to the Somali coast and holding them and their crews ransom, the pirates have redrawn shipping lanes across the Indian Ocean. They have infuriated owners and insurers and prompted a surge of naval forces to the region. On any given day, the United States estimates that some 30 to 40 warships are involved in counter piracy efforts from the EU, NATO and the United States as well as emerging Indian Ocean players China, Russia, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. The latter tend to concentrate on escorting convoys of their own national vessels, while the Western-led forces spread themselves across the region saying they want to protect all shipping regardless of flag. There is no overall commander although the navies meet once a month in Bahrain and coordinate through an Internet chat room. POVERTY, REWARDS DRIVE PIRACY At the British base northwest of London that houses the headquarters of both the EU and NATO forces, dozens of personnel coordinate and monitor shipping a quarter of a world away. Two merchant navy liaison officers -- tanker, cruise ship and freighter captains on loan from their companies -- communicate with ships by email and phone, pointing them toward convoys and the safest routes. But the military surge does not seem to be deterring the several thousand Somalis that Western military officers believe are involved in the growing piracy industry, with the numbers seen roughly tripling on a year ago. Despite the risks of weather, high seas and being picked up by a foreign warship, the potential multimillion dollar ransoms from ships carrying Asian goods to Europe, Middle East oil and African commodities to the world is just too great. "Unemployment in Somalia is very high, and even for those who are employed the average salary is only $500 a year," says NATO force deputy chief of staff Commodore Hans Helseth, a former Norwegian submariner who has tracked the pirates for three years. "A pirate can earn $20,000. Who would not be tempted? I would." Naval officers say heavy patrolling along the Gulf of Aden's Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor (IRTC) -- where they hope to get a helicopter to an attacked ship within 15 minutes -- has been effective. Once the main focus of the pirates, only three ships have been seized there since July last year. Many ships now take many more steps to avoid attack, passing through risky areas at night, using barbed wire to make it harder for attackers to board and keeping a good lookout. In the Gulf of Aden, officers say that if a ship can slow the speed of a pirate takeover from five to 15 minutes they are much more likely to get military support in time. But most of the more than 15 ships and hundreds of sailors currently held off Somalia were taken south of Aden in the wider Indian Ocean, where navies simply lack the numbers to cover the vast area. TYRANNY OF DISTANCE "Distance really is the tyranny," says EU Naval Force Somalia (EUNAVFOR) commander Rear Admiral Peter Hudson. "We can have a maritime patrol aircraft identify a pirate action group and it can take me two or three days to get a ship down there." Nevertheless, Hudson says the six ship EU force and other Western-led forces have disrupted 59 pirate groups -- usually one "mothership" that can be as small as 5 meters long with several smaller attacks skiffs -- in April and May alone. Those "disruptions" can range from storming a hijacked vessel, arresting the pirates for trial, destroying their boats or simply prompting them to throw their ladders and other incriminating evidence overboard. Some other nations have taken a rather tougher approach. Russian military officers told local news agencies that pirates captured when they took back control of an oil tanker were simply set loose in their boats without weapons or navigation equipment -- and were not expected to have survived. But Western officers say even simply forcing the pirates to dump their equipment is still a success. The Somalis might escape prosecution but still face the long journey back to Somalia with nothing to show for it, driving up the cost of the industry and, the EU hopes, deterring them. While reasonable weather allows pirates to prey on shipping in the Gulf of Aden throughout the year, twice yearly monsoons limit the party season in the rest of the Indian Ocean to two periods a year, March to May and September to December. "Hopefully, we will put them out of business for the season at least," says Hudson. "Our aim is to contain the piracy problem and hold it at an acceptable level. We know we are not going to be able to eradicate it." World Add a Comment *We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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