Somali Pirates Have Escalated The Global Shipping Crisis

Since November, hundreds of cargo ships have been forced to take a 4,000-mile detour around the continent of Africa as they look to avoid attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on ships passing through the strait of Bab al-Mandab.  Unfortunately, the distraction provided by the Red Sea attacks has allowed several hitherto dormant piracy hotspots to spring back to life. To wit, pirate attacks on ships sailing along the Somali coast have spiked, with more than 20 attempted hijackings since November driving up prices for insurance coverage and armed…