Contemporary Maritime Piracy: Five Obstacles to Ending Somali Piracy

‘This article argues that five main obstacles stand in the way of effective control of Somali piracy: lack of alternate employment; local corruption; the nature of the victims of piracy; the practices of some shipping companies and insurers; and the fact that enforcement efforts push pirates to innovate, which in turn worsens the problem.’Sarah Percy considers the time for dealing with the root causes of piracy has long since passed. Instead we must now consider how to overcome these specific obstacles.