PIRATES OF AFRICA’S SOMALI COAST: ON TERRORISM’S BRINK?

Abstract

This article will examine and evaluate the potential threat of maritime terrorism in
Africa, in particular the threat posed at present off the Somali coast. Africa’s porous
borders have provided an ideal conduit for the export of terrorism on land, and now
its unguarded coastlines are a potential new thoroughfare for maritime terrorists to
operate at sea. In Africa, the threat to maritime security and the proliferating threat
of ungoverned spaces have lethally combined to spawn the major threat of piracy
and now also the potential threat of maritime terrorism off the insecure coastline of
Somalia. At the time of writing, the security threats and challenges posed by the
rapid proliferation of piracy remains, and have continued to be so throughout 2009.
As of recent, maritime experts observe that the waters off the coast of Somalia and
the Gulf of Aden have emerged as the most dangerous zones for seafarers.