The Danish shipping industry, which is one the world’s largest, is facing extra costs of up to one billion kroner from increased insurance and efforts to avoid the rampant piracy plaguing the Gulf of Aden. In the first three months of this year more than 48 ships have been attacked off the Somali coast, many of them Danish.
According to the JP news agency, the Danish Shipping Association claims the spiralling costs to the industry are not just from ransoms paid by ship owners. Jan Fritz Hansen, who works with the Association stated, “That’s the least of it. It’s the insurance, advice and expenses of sailing south around Africa that comprise most of the bill, which collectively is running to a billion figure amount.”
It costs up to 50 percent more to sail around the Horn of Africa than use the Suez Canal. But many ships would rather pay the extra cost than face the increasing likelihood of being hijacked by Somali pirates.
Denmark’s sole military presence in the Gulf of Aden, the naval ship Absalon, just returned home after eight months patrolling the area. The Danish Shipping Association is pleading with government to send her back. During its deployment, the Absalon prevented at least 11 hijackings, caught 88 pirates, and confiscated numerous weapons. The Danish government has indicated that it will be sending a warship back to the Gulf of Aden later in the year.