Groups slam inadequate action over Somali piracy

Michael Grey and Neville Smith - Monday 29 September 2008

SHIPOWNERS’ organisations and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have condemned as “inadequate” the response of governments and naval forces to the Somali pirate attacks. 

Reacting to comments by senior officers of naval forces in the area, that the industry should take more responsibility for its own defence, BIMCO, ICS/ISF, Intercargo and Intertanko, in concert with the ITF, expressed their dismay and amazement at the situation. 

They suggested that if aircraft were being hijacked on a daily basis, as are ships, the reaction of governments would be very different. 

The shipping organisations point out that the maritime industry has spent billions of dollars to comply with security requirements after 9/11, but when shipping is attacked by violent pirates, the response by many governments is that it is not their problem. 

The fear is that if the attacks continue, and governments remain unwilling to act, there will be a redirection of much trade to alternative, safer routes, such as the Cape of Good Hope. A repeat of the 1970s, when the Suez Canal was closed“must be prevented at all costs”. 

Meanwhile, risk analysts have warned that employing private security should not be seen by shipowners as a quick fix to the piracy epidemic off Somalia. 

They also predicted that the attacks will continue until naval ships tasked with a specific anti-piracy mission are deployed to the region. 

Mike Booth of Exclusive Analysis said piracy in the Gulf of Aden would “remain a long term problem until another group of naval vessels is dispatched to police the problem”. 

The US 5th fleet and the coalition task force 150 saw the spate of piracy attacks as a relative problem in the light of their wider mission to the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, he said. 

Capt Booth told a Willis Marine shipowners conference that the temptation to employ private security onboard ship should probably be resisted. 

“The problems include how you get the security on and off the ship in that part of the world and what the rules of engagement are. 

“What do you so if your onboard security shoots dead three innocent fishermen thinking they are pirates?” 

The only long-term answer lay in shipowners lobbying their governments to send military muscle with a specific anti-piracy mission. 

“Shipowners have to work though the Joint Cargo Committee, though the War Risks Committee to lobby at the highest levels, through their governments to the UN.” 

The warnings come as two ships and their crews were released after the payment of ransoms.
The second of two MISC tankers and a Japanese bulker have been freed following a ransom payments. 

Both the Bunga Melati Lima and the Stella Maris and their crews were released at the weekend with ransoms totaling $4m reported to have been paid. 

A ransom of $2m was reportedly paid for the release of the Bunga Melati Lima. As yet the shipowner MISC has made no statement on the release of the vessel. 

On Saturday the Panama-flagged supramax Stella Maris and its crew of 20 Filipinos was also reported to have been released after a $2m ransom was paid. 

The other MISC tanker the Bunga Melati Dua hijacked 10-days earlier in the Gulf of Aden continues to be held by the Somali pirates and negotiations for its release are ongoing. 

* Exclusive Analysis analyst Victoria Date told the Willis seminar that the chances of an armed attack by US forces on the port city of Eyl, the home of the pirate fleet, were growing. More and more hostages were being held outside the town so the risks of accidental loss of life from such an operation were decreasing, she said. - Additional reporting by Marcus Hand.

 

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