Dubai: The threat of piracy off the coast of Somalia has diminished significantly over the last two years but the mission is not yet accomplished, a senior European Union (EU) official leading the counter-piracy operations in the region has warned.
Concerted counter-piracy operations by EU naval forces, Nato as well as independent deployers have helped reduce pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia significantly, with no successful attack witnessed since 2012.
“The threat of piracy is still real and it will remain so as long as the root causes of piracy are addressed ashore, which we are working on right now,” said Alessandro Mariani, head of EU’s Counter-piracy operations, on board ITS Andrea Doria, the flagship of EU’s counter-piracy operation Atalanta.
Launched in 2008, following a UN resolution, the EU has decided to extend operation Atalanta until December 2016.
ITS Andrea Doria is in Dubai for the UAE’s Counter-Piracy Week, which began on Monday with working group sessions of the Contact Group on Piracy off the coast of Somalia, currently chaired by EU.
One of the primary mandates of EU Naval Force’s operation Atalanta is to protect food aid delivered by World Food Programme vessels to Somalia as well as deterring and preventing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea.
“The situation has changed drastically over the last few years and there can be seen considerable improvements in levels of safety which is reflected by the increased shipping through the area. Hence, right now we are focusing on enhancing the capabilities of local coast guards as well as collecting data on the activities and trends ashore and offshore,” said Rear Admiral Guido Rando, Force Commander of the EU Naval Force.
This year, the once piracy-infested area has seen only two unsuccessful pirate attacks, as compared to five attacks in 2012.
At its peak, the Horn of Africa region witnessed 47 successful pirate attacks in 2010, 46 is 2009 and 25 in 2011.
The UAE, which is part of the 60-nation contact group, has played a key role in the fight against piracy.
“Apart from being a generous host of the Counter-Piracy conference, UAE has played a leading role in fighting piracy in the region. This year the UAE took a lead in forming the Maritime Counter-Piracy and Mitigating operation along with Japan and Seychelles and they are doing a commendable job,” said Alessandro Mariani, who is representing the Deputy Secretary-General of the EU’s External Action Service.
The world economy is saving around Dh11 billion annually due to a drop in pirate attacks and, according to Mariani, this can be enhanced further only by strengthening the Government of Somalia and other regional countries to tackle the situation on their own.
“The cost of piracy amounts to billions of dollars for the world economy and the drop in the attacks has resulted in the savings of at least $3 (Dh11 billion) annually,” said Mariana, head of EU’s Counter-piracy operations.
