Assalamualaikum and welcome back to Orange Shots.
About 70% of the world is water,
Nearly 91% of the world's trade is through these vessels.
Chances are that the shirt you're wearing, or the pants you're wearing,
even if you own imported sofas,
or if you use an imported car,
all of these products make it to you via vessels.
If your country doesn't produce oil,
again, chances are that these vessels are
the reason why your lightbulbs are on at home.
The gas cylinders you have on at home
the LPG used in them is also transported through these vessels.
The fixed pipelines of gas at your homes is also
there because of these vessels.
Nearly 92% of the world's trade
is through these vessels.
Add another fact to all this, and the staggering fact is
that these very vessels are targeted by pirates.
My name is Zahid Nisar, you're watching Orange Shots
and today, I'll tell you why pirates raid ships.
So, let's start.
The world's three main hotspots for piracy are
the Bay of Benin, close to Nigeria,
the Gulf of Aden, close to Somalia,
and the South China Sea, which we're through right now.
There's one thing common in all these places,
and that thing is called poverty.
There are slums in Nigeria where people can't even afford a single meal.
The same is the case with Batam and Somalia.
Somalia is a war-torn country,
poverty is prevalent there, and I believe nobody's taking care of it.
You know what they say,
provide everyone food or else they'll steal it from you.
That's exactly what's true in this scenario.
Pirates believe ship owners and shipping companies are very rich,
they also believe that ships are easy money.
But the fact of the matter is that ships are not just easy money,
they're a lot of money.
It's a lot of money at stake.
Consider this ship for example,
a ship's cost isn't just restricted to its structure,
not just the cost of its machinery either.
There are a lot of things involved in how much a ship is worth.
This ship itself is worth $80 million,
and if you consider the cost of its machinery and insurance costs,
there are millions of dollars on top of that.
Consider the wages of the ship's crew,
every individual's insurance,
every individual's insurance is approximately $80K.
And the most expensive thing on a ship is its cargo.
Our ship is a big one,
it can carry around 1 million barrels of oil at any time.
Ships come in different types, i.e., containers, chemical tankers, oil tankers,
ours is an oil tanker.
So, 1 million barrels of oil are worth
multiplying them by 20, at least $20 million.
There's no doubt that pirates demand millions in ransom when they hijack a ship.
And they're always paid in millions of dollars as ransom.
For them, a ship is like a juicy fruit.
A giant fruit floating in the sea.
And I've already told you, 91% of the world's trade is through vessels.
Take Batam for instance,
the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Benin even,
these three have yet another similarity,
these are the hotspots for all vessels.
Ships always have to pass through here,.
Looking at the Gulf of Aden,
approximately 60 planes pass through there in a day.
As for the Gulf of Benin,
around 100-120 ships are always trading there,
and we're talking about the bigger ships
not the smaller ones used for local trade.
As for the Singapore Straits,
300-340 different types of vessels pass through there.
So there are a lot of ships, there's no shortage of them.
For pirates, this is easy money floating in the sea.
You must be wondering how that is easy,
how is that easy money?
The most important thing on a vessel, despite it being expensive
despite its machinery being expensive, despite its insurance being costly,
the cargo on the ship being expensive,
the most important thing on a ship is human life.
Human lives should never be compromised.
No international rule or regulation allows for
putting someone's life at stake in order to save a ship.
Life is the most important thing.
For any reason, if pirates board a vessel,
and hold a crew member hostage,
the ship is always surrendered.
We do not prioritize a ship over someone's life.
And that's how it becomes easy for them.
They travel on small boats.
Take any region as an example, like the Gulf of Benin, Batam,
or the Malacca Straits,
even the Gulf of Aden.
They come on very small ships, unmarked boats,
small enough to not be detected on radar,
and at the same time, they have very high speeds.
They start chasing after ships.
Now, a ship is a huge thing,
it's a huge piece of machinery.
It holds a lot of cargo, and again, it's huge, I must say.
A boat is nothing compared to a ship.
And many times, you can't even spot one in the waves,
especially when the sky is cloudy, the sun is setting or rising.
It's very difficult to spot a boat at that time.
So they (the pirates) board a ship and hold one or two people, hostage,
they then occupy the ship.
Once they take over a ship,
the cargo owner gets involved, the shipowner gets involved,
the cargo recipient gets involved.
The country the ship is registered to gets involved,
as well as the people of the same country onboard the ship get involved.
The ship's managers are held hostage,
the countries the ship's crew belongs to,
their governments are held hostage.
So, in order to free the ship and its crew,
they are forced to pay a ransom.
It's easy money, and then it is used in all the wrong ways possible.
If you're a fan of Hollywood movies, you must've seen Captain Philips,
It's based on a true story about a vessel,
that got hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
So, whether you're in the Gulf of Aden,
or in an area where there are security boats on patrol,
if pirates manage to hijack your ship
and hold your crew hostage,
you won't have any other option.
The security forces won't be able to do anything,
because if they do, the people held hostage could get injured.
It's particularly very stressful for the master and his crew.
Your ship is at stake, your cargo is at stake,
your crew, the top-most priority of any vessel, is at stake.
At the same time, let me tell you that
not only to poor are involved in robberies and piracy.
The poor are forced to do it.
The biggest chunk of the money,
as per the Ross Kemp series if you've watched them,
it goes to the bigger bosses, the people who are already rich.
The poor only get compensated with meals.
The big bosses take advantage of their poverty
and take all of the money.
Those people, who have control and can manage such a thing.
"You're trained to be a pirate?"
Piracy isn't easy.
You have to be well-trained, it's not easy boarding a ship like that.
If you think you're just going to travel via boat
and then simply hijack a ship; no, it isn't possible.
There are so many things you have to take care of.
So, all this organized crime doesn't happen by itself.
There's something wrong, there are rich people involved.
And to be fair, piracy has been going on for ages.
Ever since the world came into being, ever since people learned to sail the seas,
that's how old piracy is.
No matter what you do, any resources you have,
you simply cannot monitor all 70%.
It's just not possible.
So, you see; today I informed you people about
yet another risk that we always have to deal with.
Despite all these scenes, and all these beautiful things we have onboard,
getting to visit all these countries and all that stuff;
this is yet another risk associated with my job.
I hope you enjoyed this video and found it informative.
If you did, consider subscribing, consider sharing, and consider liking.
With tons of love to my Orange family, and to-be Orange family.
Take good care of yourselves,
remember me in your prayers.
With lots of love, this is Orange Shots.
I am Zahid Nisar.
ALLAH Hafiz.