Maritime security: Pirates still holding African high seas ransom

Because apart from the fact that pirates are currently holding 589 people hostage at sea, the costs of ensuring additional security for ships travelling to South Africa bearing vital imports is ultimately going to be passed on to South African consumers. And it's a bill that amounts to up to R100 billion annually.

In the exhibitions hall of Cape Town's International Convention Centre on Monday [25 November 2013], you could find stalls marketing the kind of products you don't see every day at your local mall. Radar was big, for instance. A German company called Cassidian was hawking a Naval 3D Multi-Mode Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar, featuring "high tracking accuracy to permit deployment of different types of missiles against aircraft and anti-ship missiles". Boeing was there, pitching among other products a Strategic Missile & Defence System ominously called the "Avenger".

...As marine piracy diversifies and evolves, so too must the technologies and strategies used to fight it. This is precisely the topic on the table at the Maritime & Coastal Security Africa conference, which brings together military and industry representatives from 29 countries to discuss the issue of how to keep Africa's waters safe from piracy and other threats.

This year has seen mixed successes for African maritime security, conference director Tracey-Lee Zurcher reported. On the one hand Somali pirate attacks around the Gulf of Aden have experienced a "significant decline". But on the other hand, 2013 has also seen the "highest ever recorded amount of pirate activity on the West African coastline". In other words, the nature of the threat is changing.

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