Getting Away From It All

Maldives (Img: treehugger.com)

What do you dream of?

Whenever you hear someone talking about winning the lottery, retiring, or just getting away from the rat race, one thing that continually pops up in their thoughts is a boat or a cruise. What will be the destination of that boat or cruise? If it's not the  Caribbean - too many hurricanes, thank you kindly - its usually the idea of a tropical island paradise, like those islands in the Indian Ocean. You know; Maldvies, Seychelles or Madagascar. Cerulean skies, azure seas, white sand, beautiful sunsets, pirates, palm trees... hold on. Did someone mention pirates?

The centuries-old scourge of the seas has seen a resurgence off the Horn of Africa in the last 4 years. The growth of Somali piracy, due in no small part to various reasons from the lawlessness following the failure of the state of Somalia in 1991, the outcry that foreign fishing vessels have encroached on Somali territorial fishing areas, to accusations of toxic waste dumping off the East African country. The UN-backed government holed up in Mogadishu, the capital, with African Union peacekeeping troops protecting the parliament from the Islamist insurgents surrounding them; the vast population to the South that are in displaced person camps and suffering from food shortages, with World Food Programme unable to provide direct humanitarian aid, the self-declared independent areas of Somaliland and Puntland all clearly demonstrates the dire position of the country. Ideal breeding ground for the increasingly violent pirates.
The popularity of piracy for young men with little or no food or livelihood is almost understandable. If your meagre annual income may be between $100-$300, the promise of a $10,000-$50,000 payout for jumping in a skiff (small rudimentary boat with a big outboard motor or two stuck onto it), take with you an AK-47, mobile phone, handheld GPS and a ladder, oh, and a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher for good measure, then attack, board and return to anchor off the Somali coast, it can be rather an attractive proposition for a young man looking for exciting prospects. If you are caught by any of the navies, providing it is not Russian, Chinese, Indian, South Korean or Malaysian, then you will be released as there is no appetite to prosecute you in the country of the arresting navy. Not a bad way to earn money with menaces.
Truth be told, it is the larger cargo and tanker ships that are targeted as they attract bigger ransoms payments both for the crew and the cargo. Fishing vessels are just as likely to be targeted but they are more useful as 'motherships', which are used to hunt down and board the larger vessels. Plus the crew can be used as 'human shields' when approached by the military forces. But where does that leave the dreaming sailor?

The cruise ships have avoided the region by altering their route, mainly by going around the Cape of Good Hope at the very South of Africa, but also employing faster transit through the most dangerous areas. The recent stories in the newspapers about the 'attack' on the cruise ship 'Spirit of Adventure' (great name for the banner headlines) off Zanzibar brought it nearer to the public purview. The drama of it all as the passengers were having dinner (they all seemed to be at the Captain's table tucking into lobster thermidor and chilled Sancerre wine) when the alert was sounded and they were ordered to lie down or even go to the middle part of the ship. The ship then zig-zagged and increased speed, standard evasive measures, but the pirates realistically had very little chance of boarding the ship. They are much faster than the cargo vessels they have more success against. That's why you have not heard of a cruise ship being taken. But the excitement that the passagengers will miss out on as the cruises stop going through the Indian Ocean. The tourist industry is failing for Kenya, Tanzania and all those on the usual route for luxury cruises.

What about those on their dream yacht or motor boat? That is a different matter entirely. There have been a few notably newsworthy cases. The French yacht, 'Tanit'; the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler; the French luxury yacht 'Le Ponant' all hijacked by Somali pirates. The issues that distinguish these three cases are:

Tanit (Img: Reuters/Marine Nationale)

'Tanit' - the skipper was killed in the rescue attempt by French forces, whilst his family was onboard, including his young son;
The Chandlers, who set off from the Seychelles towards Tanzania in their yacht 'Lynn Rival'. Taken hostage and released after payment of a ransom in the region of $750,000 after 388 days in captivity;
'Le Ponant' crew of 30, on the way from the Seychelles in 2008, were rescued from pirates following a French forces operation.

Le Ponant (Img; FoxNews)

The latest yacht to be taken was the South African yacht 'Choizil'. The skipper refused to play along with the pirates and was left to fend for himself before being picked up by a warship. Meanhwile, his fellow crew, a couple Bruno Pelizzari and Debbie Calitz, were taken hostage off Tanzania. They are still being held with a recent ransom demand of $10 million.

The situation, in general terms, has worsened as the pirate fleet grows, the motherships enable them to circumvent the cessation of attacks that used to occur when the monsoon season strikes, and carry out attacks much farther afield as far as North off Iran, and deep to the South off Madagascar. Quite frankly, if you venture out without proper investigation and reporting of your route, you may be asking for trouble. The actual percentages involved in being attacked are very small, when it is taken into consideration that between 20,000 to 35,000 merchant vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden every year. Less than one percent, according to some reports, are attacked but no one wants to become a statistic. With over 750 seafarers held in Somalia or on motherships (those that are known), becoming a commodity but treated more violently and even starved as a weapon to hasten payment of ransoms, is a fearful prospect. Furthermore, bear in mind that the military naval patrols cannot be everywhere. The operations area is over 2 million square miles with possibly 30 warships to patrol the region, at an estimated cost of $2 billion, it is easy to feel that you could be left to your own devices.
Even sending your yacht via a freight vessel is no guarantee it will arrive. The tragic case of the Maltese-flagged, German-owned Beluga Nomination, recently hijacked carrying luxury yachts and speedboats, saw 3 of the crew killed. One shot in retaliation for an attempted rescue; one shot in the process of escaping, and one drowned having escaped during the confusion. Two managed to escape in a lifeboat and were rescued by a Danish warship, but they were lucky. The rest of the crew are not necessarily going to be treated leniently. The call for armed guards on German-managed ships is growing and looks like it will come about in a few cases. Many authorities, organisations and associations are against private security company armed guards being deployed (international law and port regulations mean they cannot always enter with weapons onboard) which brings about other problems (see link). For the yachting community, guidance on anti-piracy recommendations and travelling in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden is available from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) here.

Regional Piracy Attacks - 2010

Piracy is more of a global problem than many people realise. In the International Maritime Bureau annual report (free of charge on request from the IMB website) it stated that there were 445 attacks in 2010. The breakdown by regions is seen here, which accounts for 75% of all the attacks.

The prospect of travel in these regions being severely restricted is clearly increasing. There is a mass of information available but it is not always collected in one place to make it simple intelligence that is relevant to the seafarers, whatever the vessel size. OCEANUSLive seeks to resolve that element at least, and is developing the system in view of the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) recent 'new' drive to 'keep piracy at bay' - see "Piracy: Orchestrating the Response" speech by the IMO Secretary General (also reiterated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon). It is better to be aware through greater maritime situational awareness; 'forewarned is forearmed'.

PS the hijack of two oil tankers in 2 days (Italian SAVINA CAYLYN and Greek IRENE SL ($200 million worth of oil onboard)) this week, demonstrates the determination of the pirates to continue to prey on the seafarer.