Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean

259 Pages·2019·13.444 MB·English

by  Jatin Dua

Captured at Sea
atelier: ethnographic inquiry in
the twenty-first century
Kevin Lewis O’Neill, Series Editor
1. Mortal Doubt: Transnational Gangs and Social Order in
Guatemala City, by Anthony W. Fontes
2. Contingent Kinship: The Flows and Futures of Adoption in
the United States, by Kathryn A. Mariner
3. Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean,
by Jatin Dua
Captured at Sea
piracy and protection in
the indian ocean
Jatin Dua
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing
scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit
www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2019 by Jatin Dua
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress.
Names: Dua, Jatin, 1981- author.
Title: Captured at sea : piracy and protection in the Indian
Ocean / Jatin Dua.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019]
| Series: Atelier: Ethnographic Inquiry in the Twenty First century ; 3 |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: lccn 2019010308 (print) | lccn 2019016512 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520973299 (Epub) | isbn 9780520305199 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780520305205 (pbk : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Hijacking of ships—Somalia—21st century.
Classification: lcc hv6433.786.s58 (ebook) | lcc hv6433.786.s58 d83 2019
(print) | ddc 364.16/4—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019010308
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Language xv
List of Abbreviations xvi
Introduction: An Anthropology of Protection 1
1 • Protectors of the Sea: The Rise of Maritime
Piracy off the Coast of Somalia 29
2 • Anchoring Pirates: Grounding a
Protection Economy 60
3 • Regulating the Ocean: The Governance of
Counter-Piracy 90
4 • Markets of Negotiation: The Making
of a Ransom 121
5 • Captivity at Sea: Pirates on Dhows 148
Epilogue: The Gifts of the Sea 174
Notes 185
References 199
Index 221

illustrations
maps
1. Map of Somalia. 7
2. Map of range of piracy attacks. 16
3. Map of monsoon currents in the Indian Ocean. 65
4. Map of piracy high-risk area in the western Indian Ocean. 116
figures
1. Shipping containers in a Red Sea port, 2018. 5
2. Author with Somaliland coastguard in Berbera Port, 2011. 32
3. Fishing skiff in coastal Somalia. 38
4. Khat market. 77
5. Naval antipiracy patrol. 97
6. Lloyd’s of London insurance underwriting room. 112
7. Estimated costs of piracy to shipping industry and
governments. 123
8. Water hose on the aft side of the container ship as part of vessel
hardening against piracy, 2018. 133
9. The making of a ransom. 140
10. Port security guard on board Indian dhow in Bosaso, 2012. 155
11. Mothership. 168
vii

acknowledgments
“This wasn’t the first time I was captured.” With those words, we were all
hushed into silence. I was sitting at our usual maskan (hangout) on the Lamu
waterfront, close to the Somali border. It was 8 PM and the town was envel-
oped in darkness. In the summer of 2008, power cuts were a daily occurrence.
I was in this cosmopolitan corner of the East African coast, with a vague idea
of studying contemporary Indian Ocean connections, when I heard Abdul’s
story. Abdul, a merchant mariner, had returned from a job at sea with a tale
of pirates. “The last time was three years ago in Nigeria. There, people came
on board and tied us up to steal things from the ship—this was different.”
We continued to listen quietly as he set the stage for us. “We were returning
from a routine food drop in Kismayu. I was down in my cabin getting ready
for bed. All of a sudden the alarm went off and captain told us on the
announcement system that we had men on board.” Someone interrupted to
ask how many pirates came aboard, but he was quickly hushed as Abdul con-
tinued. “We ran to hide in the reinforced citadel where they have food and
supplies, but it was too late. I walked out of the door and there was a man
with an AK-47, yelling. He was speaking Somali, but when a man has a gun
you don’t need a translator.”
At this point, Abdul stood up; a diminutive, unassuming man, it was hard
to picture him at the center of a tale of piracy on the high seas. Other people
had joined our circle and were being brought up to speed by those sitting next
to them. Annoyed by the chatter, Abdul silenced the swelling crowd so he
could tell more of his ordeal. “We slept on the main deck in the open that
night. In the morning at sunrise, I saw that there were six—maybe seven—
people, all armed, guarding us. When the sun got too hot, they took us to the
upper deck and locked us in the ship’s office. As we were walking inside, I saw
ix
two small fishing boats tied to the side of our ship. It’s unbelievable to think
that two small boats with six armed men could capture a big cargo ship, but
it happened.”
This is a book about capture at sea, about how small boats hijack big ships.
Abdul’s astonishment over the hijacking of his cargo ship by fishing skiffs
immediately struck me, and gave shape to the research and writing that fol-
lowed ever since that evening in Lamu.
Answering how small boats hijack big ships required inhabiting and
researching within a transregional geography. Not only did piracy emerge as
part of everyday life, involving all kinds of individuals, organizations, and
businesses, but it turned out to be both a local and international/global affair,
involving Somali family ties, shipping companies, Lloyd’s of London, the
U.S. Navy, private security companies, contractors, pilots, negotiators, divin-
ers, and more. This work would not have been possible without the willing-
ness of all these disparate people to allow me in their midst. From coastal
Somalia to Washington, DC, to London, South Asia, and Sharjah, as well as
onboard a number of ships, this book is built through the hospitality of many
who gave time and energy to make this project possible, patiently encourag-
ing me and generously forgiving my missteps and blunders.
Those interviewed remain anonymous or are cited by pseudonym. In some
cases, certain details (insignificant to the analysis) have been changed to pro-
tect the identities of certain people. That includes the use of composite scenes
that contain elements from more than one situation. They accurately reflect
actual events, but have been rearranged to preserve anonymity.
In Kenya, Reuben Jemase, Athman Lali, Mohamed Jama, and Ali
Hadrami immediately took me in and supported my work throughout.
Shafiq Makrani’s friendship made Mombasa feel like home. Omar Hassan
did the same for me in Lamu, including insisting that I follow up with Abdul,
testament to the ways in which he made my research his own. Kadara Swaleh,
Charles Appleton, Allan Duncan, Alan Cole, and others at UNODC-
Nairobi, the Mombasa Magistrate’s Court, Kenya Port Authority, the tireless
staff at Mission to Seafarers, faculty at USIU, especially Francis Wambalaba
and the staff at the British Institute, were generous with their time and sup-
port in Nairobi and Mombasa. Hassan Ibrahim’s incisive questions and
incredible resourcefulness were essential in navigating metaphorical and lit-
eral roadblocks in both Eastleigh and later Somaliland.
In Somaliland, the staff at APD, especially Mohamed Farah, constantly
reminded me of the larger stakes of my project. In Berbera, members of the
x • Acknowledgments