Ship owners critical of U.S. piracy order
The International Chamber of Shipping and the International Shipping Federation called on governments to enhance existing naval protection against piracy in the Indian Ocean, and criticized a U.S. presidential order issued April 13 on security in Somalia.
The ICS and ISF said the order “suggests that those involved in the payment of ransoms to release ships' crews could be subject to criminal sanctions.'
ICS is the principal international trade association for ship owners, ISF is the principal international maritime employers' organization. The organizations represent all sectors and trades in the global industry and about 80 percent of the world merchant fleet.
The groups found 'a most urgent need for the U.S. to provide clarity on the precise meaning of this, frankly, extremely confusing presidential order. Our primary concern is humanitarian: what else is a ship owner meant to do if his seafarers are taken hostage by ruthless Somali pirates who threaten their lives? The U.S. needs to appreciate the potentially life threatening impact of the order on the lives of seafarers being held hostage, as well as the truly serious implications for world trade, especially if ship owners are unable to operate in the Indian Ocean due to the concerns that shipping companies and their insurers run the risk of being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.”
ICS Chairman-ISF President Spyros M Polemis said, 'It is simply unacceptable for the U.S., and those other major powers that fail to fulfill their responsibility to protect the waters affected by pirates, to cede control of these strategically vital trade routes to just a handful of Somali criminals, while leaving kidnapped seafarers incarcerated in appalling conditions. What kind of signal does this give to others who have contempt for life and international law?'
'After two years of increasingly violent armed attacks, enough is enough!' Polemis said, following the group’s annual meeting last week. 'The current situation, with over 200 seafarers being held hostage by Somali pirates at any given time, is totally unacceptable.
An analysis by the law firm Blank Rome of last month’s presidential order said it “does not contain a general ban on the making of ransom payments to Somali pirates. However, the order explicitly deems acts of piracy a threat to the peace, security or stability of Somalia, thereby opening the door to designation of known Somalia pirates” as so-called “specially designated individuals.”
The law firm said at a government/industry meeting on April 16 that administration officials confirmed for the moment the order applies only to dealings by U.S. persons with persons listed in the annex to the order, of whom only two are known pirate associates.
But Blank Rome said the guidance “does little to quell the fears of the maritime community given the industry's global interconnectivity and the need to move quickly when ransom demands hold lives and property in the balance. In addition, there are no assurances that the U.S. government will agree prior to the payment of ransom in order to free captured crewmembers that it will not pursue civil or criminal action against those persons or entities making the ransom payments. Furthermore, now that the U.S. government has explicitly recognized a link between piracy and terrorism financing, the specter of future sanctions remains and it is unclear whether OFAC (Office of Foreign Asset Control) will move to minimize uncertainty and concern by issuing policy guidance prior to publishing regulations.”
In another matter the ICS reiterated its commitment to helping governments at the International Maritime Organization deliver a package to reduce the global shipping industry's carbon dioxide emissions substantially, before the next major United Nations Climate Change Conference in Mexico in December 2010.
Polemis said market-based mechanisms to reduce emissions “must be demonstrated to deliver genuine and direct environmental benefit, rather than simply being used as a source of revenue for governments.”
Ship owners critical of U.S. piracy order
