Girding the ‘Achilles heel’ in battling piracy

Girding the ‘Achilles heel’ in battling piracy
On Second Thought ' by Thomas Timlen

   When the security guards are the first ones to abandon a merchant ship under attack from Somali pirates, you know that something is seriously wrong in these troubled waters.
   Last year about a 100 merchant ships were attacked off Somalia, in some cases hundreds of miles off the coast in unquestionably international waters. As 2008 came to a close roughly 15 ships and their crew were being held for ransoms of millions of dollars.
   The security guards that jumped overboard to avoid adding to the statistics of hostages held by Somali kidnappers had been hired by the ship's owners to apply non-lethal defense mechanisms and maneuvers, all this while the ship was part of a convoy escorted by the French Navy.
   A fishing boat operated by five armed Somali pirates was too much for such security measures to stop.
   Considering that the adoption of such measures is still not enough to ensure the safe transit of merchant ships, it is easy to understand that an increasing number of ship owners took heed of BIMCO's advice to avoid the Gulf of Aden altogether and reroute vessels via the Cape of Good Hope and East of Madagascar.
   Unlike the rest of the world, which has been taken by surprise by the escalation of attacks and kidnappings off Somalia, mariners have been all too familiar with the lawless coastal waters for more than a decade. Back in the 1990s advisories issued by the International Maritime Bureau and BIMCO once warned merchant ships to keep a safe distance of only 25 miles from the Somali Coast to keep out of harms way. Initially such advice achieved its intended goal, however the pirates soon began to extend their operations farther out from the East Coast and also concentrate on the easier pickings transiting the Gulf of Aden. Soon they started to use captured merchant ships as so-called 'mother ships' from which to launch their attacks at ever increasing distances from their pirate bases, so allowing them to prowl the waters as innocent seafarers while reconnoitering their intended prey.
   Ultimately this led to the attack and capture of a VLCC (very large crude carrier) 450 miles off the coast. With a cargo on board bound for the United States, her release was being negotiated against a ransom demand of $25 million, or about a quarter of the value of the cargo.
   Sadly, these attacks increased in 2008 during a period in which the world's navies enhanced their presence and engagement in a welcome move to protect merchant ships. Frustrations in many quarters have grown as the pirates' resolve remains unfettered in the face of a growing global naval presence. Interviewed by international mass media the captors of merchant ships have even boasted of the feasts they are enjoying on board while waiting to receive their ransom. The pirates' 15 minutes of fame will soon have reached 15 months while governments struggle to identify a workable solution.
   For its part the International Maritime Organization, the agency of the United Nations that regulates international shipping, has been seeking concerted action on the Somalia piracy scourge from the U.N. Security Council since 2005. As a result, some positive responses have been forthcoming from the Security Council, most recently in the form of economic sanctions and frozen accounts, as well as a continuing consensus for the support of naval intervention. Regarding the latter, as 2008 drew to a close many felt that the actual rules of engagement left a lot to be desired. Experts on maritime law expressed widely varying opinions as to what naval ships could and could not do when coming to the aid of merchant ships either under attack or those captured by pirates.
   Clearly many factors have contributed to both the continuation and escalation of this criminal activity, among which two are of particular concern as neither has a quick fix.
   So long as Somalia itself has no rule of enforceable law, criminal activities such as smuggling, piracy and hostage taking will be centered around and launched from coastal communities ruled by those having the largest arsenal of weapons and access to cash. The ransoms paid to the groups holding seafarers and ships have served well to strengthen them and perpetuate the activity. Any steps that the international community can initiate to restore law and order on land will have to take hold before any expectations of a return to law and order off the Somali Coast will be realized.
   However Somalia is not the only country lacking adequate laws to confront the crime of piracy. Among the nations whose navies are now admirably seeking to protect merchant vessels plying these deadly waters, many lack the required national legislation to enable these same navies to apprehend the perpetrators for eventual prosecution and punishment.
   This 'Achilles heel' in the battle against piracy has been known for at least a decade. In response, BIMCO and other shipping groups joined Comite Maritime International (CMI) in an effort to draft a model national law that nations could adopt as their own in order to facilitate the local prosecution of acts of piracy.
   Sadly, even developed countries have had to release pirates as no legal means to prosecute them could be found. As we begin a new year, it would be foolish to expect an end to the Somali piracy scourge before law and order returns to this troubled land and the policing countries establish laws to adequately punish these heinous crimes.
   Thomas Timlen is based in BIMCO's Asia Representative Office in Singapore. Email tt@bimco.org
   Ongoing coverage of the Somalia piracy crisis is available online at www.AmericanShipper.com.