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Nato declares war on piracy

Richard Meade - Friday 24 October 2008

NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has unveiled new plans to redirect significant naval resources towards tackling the piracy epidemic off the coast of Somalia. 

The move will form part of wider push by the military alliance to re-establish maritime security as one of the core functions of Nato. 

Refocussed Nato operations in the region will include the introduction of a sophisticated intelligence network to work alongside the flotilla of Nato frigates due to arrive in the Gulf of Aden this weekend. 

“I believe that Nato can and must be a force for stability at sea as we have been on land,” Mr Scheffer told an audience of energy and insurance officials at a function in London last night. 

Nato’s current operations in the Gulf of Aden made up of destroyers from Italy and the United States, frigates from Germany, Greece, Turkey and Britain, and a German auxiliary vessel, were prompted by requests for assistance from the UN and the World Food Programme. However, Mr Scheffer revealed that he has also received a direct approach for help from a coalition of four major energy companies requesting protection for their tankers passing through the Gulf of Aden. 

“Ultimately I can see complications with Nato providing escorts for individual ships. Who for instance will pay the price? But given the urgency of preventing lawlessness on the high seas and the need to ensure oil and gas deliveries there is clearly a role for Nato to play,” he said. 

Under the new regime, Mr Scheffer foresees a clearer maritime command structure for Nato and greater flexibility of existing resources. He also suggests that Nato’s recently adopted maritime intelligence network known as the “maritime situation awareness” programme will give the naval forces the ability to monitor what goes on in the oceans “in the same way that air traffic control can monitor the situation in the sky”. 

The new system has the ability to monitor the behaviour of certain ships and use technology to “enhance real time situational awareness”. 

“It will also allow us to share much more data with our navies and the national authorities in coastal areas,” he said. 

The announcement of the new robust approach comes alongside moves by shipping industry officials to establish a new United Nations resolution in order to give naval forces in the region the power of arrest in piracy operations. 

The precise wording of a proposed draft is currently being worked on in conjunction with the IMO, however Lloyd’s List understands that it will aim to establish a legal jurisdiction in order to arrest captured pirates and then to apply a due process so that they can be tried and punished. 

“We still have legal issues to overcome when it comes to arresting and detaining pirates,” said Mr Scheffer, however he added that he expected UN support on this matter. 

Confirmation by Mr Scheffer that maritime security is now a key priority for Nato is likely to be taken as a positive signal to industry and IMO officials that the plan for a new UN resolution — the fourth in recent months — will gain approval once forwarded to the UN Security Council. 

IMO secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos is scheduled to meet with UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon in New York today as part of a routine UN agenda, however IMO sources confirmed that the piracy issue in Somalia was likely to be discussed. 

Earlier this week Lloyd’s chairman Lord Peter Levene met with UK Ministry of Defence officials to discuss the recent surge in hijackings off Somalia, which is understood to have now cost over $100m in ransom payments. 

“We hope that the combination of EU and NATO action here can mirror the success of the Malacca Strait, which proved the value of international co-operation,” Lord Levene said.

* Click here for more stories, videos and exclusive interviews on the Somali piracy situation.