Rich Returns for Somali Pirates Evading Capture in Gulf of Aden

Tucked behind the shouting dockworkers and fishermen cleaning their nets at the wharf in Bosaso, on the Gulf of Aden in Somalia, there’s a row of decrepit gray skiffs and patrol boats.

Strewn with rusted anti-aircraft shells and old mattresses, these dead ships look more like floating homeless shelters than vehicles of terror. Out on the water, though, they played a starring role in a booming criminal enterprise. These are the impounded attack vessels used by Somali pirates to hijack passing cargo ships, private yachts, and even oil tankers.