Somali pirates are making money and investing it into better pirate technology, according to the BBC

Observers say pirates made about $30m from ransom payments last year – far more than the annual budget of Puntland, which is about $20m.

When the president of Puntland, Adde Musa, was asked about the reported wealth of pirates and their associates, he said: “It’s more than true”.

Now that they are making so much money, these 21st Century pirates can afford increasingly sophisticated weapons and speedboats.

This means that unless more is done to stop them, they will continue to plunder the busy shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden.

I wonder whether the cost of lost ships, let alone security for ships, is above $30m. The article mentions 30% of the world’s oil is shipped near Somalia.

Another question is whether America can afford to allow the country of Somalia to stabilize as an Islamic state, or whether they will continue to destabilize the region and leave the pirates a home.