Fund created to prosecute pirates

Fund created to prosecute pirates    An international “Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia” met at United Nations headquarters in New York last week and endorsed the creation of a fund to help defray expenses associated with prosecuting suspected pirates.
   The fund will be voluntary, open to contributions from governments, industry and others.
   At the meeting, Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas and the Marshall Islands signed a declaration saying they will promulgate internationally recognized best management practices for protection of ships against piracy attacks and require that all vessels flying their flags adopt and document self-protection measures. The ship registries of the four countries account for more than half of the world’s shipping by gross tonnage.
   A statement issued by the group is available here.