The United Nations Security Council has urged its member states to utilise naval vessels and military aircraft in their fight against piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia.

In a wide ranging presidential statement on the situation in Somalia, issued on March 15, the Council "encourages member states whose naval vessels and military aircraft operate in international waters and airspace adjacent to the coast of Somalia to be vigilant to any incident of piracy therein and to take appropriate action to protect merchant shipping, in particular the transportation of humanitarian aid, against any such act, in line with relevant international law."

The attention of the Security Council was first drawn to the growing problem of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia in November last year when the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Assembly passed a resolution that condemned and deplored all acts of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas.

That resolution also appealed to all parties to take action within international laws to contain the problem.

Soon after the adoption of this resolution, Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos submitted the resolution to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for consideration and any further action he might deem appropriate, including bringing the matter to the attention of the Security Council.

Mitropoulos expressed satisfaction at the development, and said he hoped the action requested by the Security Council of all UN member states would help to bring about a reduction in attacks on innocent merchant shipping in the area and lead eventually to the eradication of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Salalah joins CSI club

Oman's Salalah port has become the 43rd in the world to join the US-led Container Security Initiative (CSI) and pre-screen maritime cargo containers for terrorists and terrorist weapons destined for the US. After Dubai it is only the second port in the Middle East to join CSI.

CSI was launched four years ago by the US government in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the system has four key elements to identify high-risk containers, to adopt pre-screening and evaluation of containers prior to their shipment, to utilise high technology methods to carry out pre-screening and to use smarter, more secure containers, which will allow officials at US ports of arrival to identify containers that have been tampered with during transit.

The addition of Salalah to CSI finalises a declaration of principles signed last November by representatives from US Customs and Border Protection and the government of Oman.

India to implement load restrictions

The Supreme Court of India has decided that local governments must impose load restrictions on carriage of goods throughout the nation and the limit has been set at 23 metric tonnes per 20- or 40-foot (TEU or FEU) container.

According to the Nhava Sheva Container Operators Welfare Association, this means that it is unlikely that any freight forwarder will now be allowed to carry two loaded TEU containers as they will probably exceed the limit and the rates charged for transporting FEU-sized containers will be the same as those for TEU-sized containers.

Furthermore, failure to adhere to the weight limitation will result in both truck and container being detained by authorities, who will require the weight of the loaded box to be reduced.

Following the judgement the Indian Ship Agents Association requested that the implementation of the rule be delayed 30 days to accommodate shipments currently taking place.

China aims to be largest shipbuilder

Xinhua has reported that the growing orders from shipping companies worldwide will bring more business opportunities for Chinese shipbuilders to strive to be the biggest shipbuilder with a sharp competitive edge in technological innovation, rather than low-cost labour force.

China's five-year development programme has set out objectives aimed to strengthen the shipbuilding industry by improving the capacity for the self-design of ships and marine equipment, and the infrastructure for building heavy ships.

Discussions have also recognised that the industry is facing more opportunities than challenges, due to the booming global ship market, and the nation's shipbuilding industry should exploit these opportunities by 2010.

Global orders for ships have topped 100 million deadweight tonnes (dwt) for two consecutive years, and the annual demand is expected to remain at 60 million dwt up to 2010. China currently takes about 15 per cent of world shipbuilding, just behind the European Union that takes about 17 per cent with Japan and South Korea dominating the major share.

Essar adds VLCC to fleet

Exim News has reported Essar Shipping has purchased a very large crude carrier (VLCC) of 281,396 (DWT) for about Rs 550 crore. The company is believed to have taken delivery of a 2005-built double-hull, double bottom VLCC at Hong Kong. Built in a Japanese yard, the vessel is 330 metres long and 60 metres wide.

This acquisition, which will fly the Indian flag, has increased the size of Essar Shipping's fleet to 27, with the total tonnage rising to 1.3 million dwt.

The company is said to be targeting a young fleet with a mix of medium and large-sized tankers with sufficient bulk tonnage and to this end is reported to be planning to acquire more vessels, including suezmax, panamax, mini bulk carriers, handymax, bulk carriers and barges.

Essar is also setting up port and terminal facilities to handle the receipt, storage and dispatch of crude oil and petroleum products at Vadinar, Gujarat.

The writer is a Dubai-based marine journalist.