Weekly Piracy Report

Republic of the Seychelles agreed to accept for prosecution 11 suspect pirates who were captured by EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) frigate, HNLMS Van Amstel, on Friday 11 May - eunavfor.eu.

The 11 suspect pirates had pirated an Iranian dhow with 17 innocent Iranian fishermen onboard at the beginning of May and it is thought the dhow was probably related to the unsuccessful attack against MV Super Lady on Wednesday May 9.

The suspect pirates are expected to be handed over to the Seychelles authorities in the coming days.

“Like it or not, for the foreseeable future, armed embarked security remains the most effective and efficient means of anti-piracy deterrence,” said CEO Jim Jorrie of ESPADA Marine Services, the top American contractor, in the March 2012 issue of Homeland Security Today magazine. “At a few thousand dollars a day, it’s a world-class bargain when compared with a modern warship, whose costs can approach $1 million a day.” - Tactical-Life.com

At least 200 companies worldwide offer embarked-security teams for commercial transits. Teams typically comprise military and law-enforcement veterans who wear Kevlar helmets and body armor and carry battle rifles and other small arms. Maritime law, rules of engagement, and the authority of the ship’s captain all affect the conduct of embarked security. It’s effective; pirates want soft—undefended—targets and usually break off from armed confrontations. As the BBC News noted in March, “No ship has ever been taken whilst armed guards have been on board.” Read more. (Mentioned by ColdWarrior84 in OL Forum).

Image - An embarked-security operator with ESPADA Marine Services prepares to fire a warning shot from a client’s merchant ship.

Question: How do you make a meeting of a slow-moving, little-known and largely powerless United Nations agency into a sexy event?

Answer: pirates!

The 90th session of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee, under way in London, will cover much territory, including passenger-ship safety (“Remember the Costa Concordia”), standards for voyage data recorders and the protection of crew members’ hearing from engine noise - Bloomberg.

But the big topic is piracy, not just off the coast of Somalia -- where there were 237 attacks last year, up from 219 in 2010 -- but increasingly off western Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. The incidents cost the shipping industry, insurers, navies and law enforcement more than $7 billion in 2010.

Navies cannot efficiently police an Indian Ocean danger zone that is larger than Western Europe. The European Union forces’ aerial attack on a pirate supply line on the Somali coast on Tuesday was a swashbuckling raid, but will have little long-term benefit.

Increasingly, shipping companies have turned to private security. That may account for the Somali pirates’ decreasing effectiveness. While the number of attacks was up in 2011, the pirates succeeded in hijacking only 28 vessels last year, as opposed to a record 49 in 2010, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Liability and Reputation

Yet these rent-a-Marines have become a mixed blessing. A video of guards haphazardly firing at suspected pirates from the deck of the cargo ship Avocet has recently set off a round of second-guessing by ship owners worried about liability and the industry’s reputation, as well as the possibility that pirates will adopt more violent tactics.

Given the hodgepodge of flag-state, shore-state and port-state laws that ships encounter on a long voyage, there is no way to standardize the training and actions of private security personnel. (As of now, security teams sometimes have to dump their weapons overboard before entering a jurisdiction with strict gun-control laws.) The shipping industry is effectively self-regulating, and often opts for the lowest common denominator in terms of ethics. A proposal coming before the IMO this week, however, could supply a needed framework on anti-piracy measures. Read more.

Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that the Navy plans to stretch its operational range in the Northern waters of the Indian Ocean - FARS News Agency.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Assistant Chief of Staff of Oman's Armed Forces Rashed Bin Seif Bin Al-Rashidi here in Tehran, Sayyari stressed the necessity for further interactions between Iran and the countries on the Northern rims of the Indian Ocean given the Navy's plan to increase its operational zone. 

"Given the expansion of the operational zone of the Army's Navy in the Northern Indian Ocean and our plan for going to waters beyond the 10-degree latitude, we need to have interaction and cooperation with the neighboring states, special countries in the North of the Indian Ocean," Sayyari stated. Read more.

The constant battle against the scourge of piracy requires true international cooperation and as the world at large becomes increasingly aware of the horrors inflicted on the helpless victims of the continued attacks the International Maritime Organization (IMO) yesterday held a Conference on Capacity Building to Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia which produced one particularly tangible result - Handy Shipping Guide.

Whilst attending the event His Excellency Dr. Zola Skweyiya, South African High Commissioner signed the Djibouti Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden meaning South Africa has become the 19th state to agree to develop regional capacity to counter piracy in the area.

The Djibouti Code of Conduct, which has been in effect since 29 January 2009, is aimed at the investigation, arrest and prosecution of persons reasonably suspected of having committed or assisted in acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships, the rescuing and rehabilitation of hostages and recovery of vessels and cargo and full cooperation between signatories to achieve these aims.

INTERTANKO is to open discussions with insurers and charterers about reclassifying the pirate infested waters off Somalia as a 'war zone' as opposed to a war-risk area to allow its owner members to legitimately avoid transiting the Gulf of Aden in favour of the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, writes Sean Moloney - Safety4Sea.

Twenty-six crew members, including 11 Indians, have been held captive by suspected Somali pirates after the hijacking of a Liberian-flagged crude tanker off the Omani coast, the Directorate General Shipping said on Saturday - Times of India. 

The pirates boarded MT Smyrni while it was sailing in the Arabian Sea on Thursday afternoon, a DGS statement issued late this evening said. The DGS has asked the ship's manager and recruiting agent in Mumbai - Dynacom Tankers Management - to obtain information on the condition of the Indian crew. The vessel, loaded with 135,000 tonnes of crude and owned by a Greek company, is headed towards the Somalian coast, it said. The abducted Indians include the master of the vessel, which also had 14 Filipinos and a Romanian.