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Piracy remained serious in 2007 and may get worse
As the year closes, the situation regarding piracy on the high seas remains of serious concern with the African region showing the greatest risk to seafarers.
- By Frank Kennedy, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:28 December 31, 2007
As the year closes, the situation regarding piracy on the high seas remains of serious concern with the African region showing the greatest risk to seafarers. Waters off Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria are all considered to be 'hot spots' with particular escalation with respect to the use of firearms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).
In the weekly report to be issued today, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said that its Reporting Centre had recorded details of 26 actual and attempted attacks so far this year for Somali waters, with "many" more attacks that may have gone unreported. There are reports of the use of automatic weapons being fired at ships to stop them and occasionally, pirates have used RPGs.
Some Somali pirates are believed to be using 'mother vessels' to launch attacks a significant distance from the coast - a particular threat to vessels on passage in the shipping lanes that might be considered to be far from the shoreline. The eastern and northeastern coasts of Somalia continue to be the highest risk areas for attacks and hijackings.
In early December, the UAE-owned Comoros-flagged cargo ship, Al Marjan, with 22 crew onboard, was released by Somali pirates after being captured off Mogadishu for six weeks. Details of any ransom paid for the release are not known.
Kenyan waters have now figured in the IMB's reports with particular warnings that container ships are being targeted in the Mombassa area while the port and anchorages of the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam are presenting a significant risk.
In the west of Africa, Nigeria continues to be an area of concern with violent attacks to rob and kidnap crews - particularly Lagos. Closer to the Gulf region, in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, a number of suspicious craft reports have been received. These craft either set a collision course, or pursue the ships.
However, some agencies do report a tendency of local fishermen to be 'over protective' of their areas of operation and their aggressive actions may be misinterpreted on occasions. This notwithstanding, seafarers are being urged by the IMB to report all suspicious activities.
Encouraging scenario
Other significant recent occurrences in the Gulf region also include an act of robbery on a container ship in the Shatt Al Arab. In Bangladesh there is some optimism since the number of attacks reported in 2007 has declined compared with the previous year, but Chittagong anchorage remains high risk.
With the exception of Indonesian waters, the Far East shows a more encouraging scenario with the Singapore and Malacca Straits continuing an improvement brought about by increased military patrols by the littoral states. However, seafarers are warned against being complacent and anti-piracy watches continue to be recommended. Indonesian waters remain a problem with, it is believed by the IMB, many incidents being unreported.
Thus the above information makes vexing reading and such a global problem does not appear to be getting the high-profile treatment by world leaders that it deserves. Indeed, with over 90 per cent of the world's commercial transportation being conducted by sea, the underlying threat is very significant - particularly with a rapidly increasing expansion of international trade "fired up" by the Asian economy.
Safety issue
However, in parallel with that trade expansion, an increase in organised crime has been seen which together with terrorism does produce a threat to shipping that cannot be ignored.
With the number of piracy incidents recorded over the past ten years now running in thousands (and a credible belief that the number of unreported incidents far exceeds those reported) and despite the success of localised intervention (the Singapore and Malacca Straits) the worldwide trend shall certainly result in even higher costings by ship operators that will eventually be passed on to the customer, as those incurred so far have been.
The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (the ISPS Code) has helped, not in a physical sense in that any material provisions in a Ship Security plan will not prevent a determined pirate from boarding a ship. However, ISPS has raised awareness among ship crews that has undoubtedly prevented pirates from being given the opportunity to board in the first place.
This notwithstanding, ISPS is not a solution since it does not deal with the root causes of the problem that surely include impoverished coastal nations as well as organised crime and terrorism.
As long as a polarised global scenario exists, the conditions that promote lawlessness will prevail to be exploited by the criminal elements and with respect to impoverished coastal states, without international intervention to protect the world fleet from sailing in safety, the menace of piracy will persist - proof of effective control can be seen from the recent success in the Malacca Straits but the littoral states concerned were better equipped to mount such a plan. Other regional situations certainly do not have that potential without external co-operation.
Once thing is certain: the issue is a global problem that needs global consensus to tackle it, otherwise it will never go away. Let us hope that 2008 may see a more effective international effort against the creeping menace of piracy.
- The writer is a Dubai-based marine consultant.
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