Somali piracy is "a highly structured enterprise" built around well-organized syndicates which regularly extort U.S. $1-million ransoms for shipowners to release ships and their crews, says an American expert on the issue.

Writing in the latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine, J Peter Pham of James Madison University says there are few places more hospitable to piracy than Somalia.

"Pirate bases in Eyl, in the northeastern Puntland region, and in Xarardheere, in central Somalia, stand out for their audacity and for the resources they command.

"The syndicates operate 'mother ships' far offshore that serve as long-range platforms for the speedboats that attack commercial vessels; they own depots along the coast where the pirates resupply before bringing captured boats to their main bases; and they coordinate the networks to support pirate operations on land...

"In exchange for a share in the eventual ransoms, wealthy Somali businessmen finance the purchase and outfit of mother ships and skiffs as well as the recruitment and arming of their crews.

"In various ports, paid informants send information... enabling pirate gangs to select their targets and plot courses for interception."

Pham - who served as Senator John McCain's top Africa policy adviser during the U.S. presidential election last year - said last week's standoff between a small group of pirates and U.S. warships underscored the limits of the use of force.

Although he advocated continued action by the international community, he said Somalis would also need step in, and suggested the establishment of a coastguard, perhaps initially under regional or African Union control.

"A local coastal patrol has better prospects for sustainability than the continued massive presence of warships from the blue-water navies of the world," Pham said.