Several Dutch shipping firms have altered their regular routes to avoid the increasing risk of being attacked by pirates are paying their crew €200 danger money for every trip through the Gulf of Aden, reports Friday’s Volkskrant.

Dutch shipping line Splietoff is one of the firms which has switched routes. ‘I can no longer expose my crews to the danger,’ Gerard Bos tells Friday’s Volkskrant.
Arnold van der Heul of Jumbo Shipping tells the Volkskrant that the alternative route costs his company an extra €800,000 on a total price of several million euros.
According to broadcaster NOS, around 10 Dutch ships a week sail along the Somali coast on their way to the Middle East. The alternative route via the Cape of Good Hope can take up to three weeks longer.
The shipping companies have called for military escorts for trips through the danger zone and are to meet with government officials next week to discuss the situation.