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.

Somali Parliament Votes Itself To Continue

Somalia's Tranisitional Federal Government (TFG) has voted overwhelmingly to extend their mandate by a further 3 years.

The parliament speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, stated to reporters that they had voted to extend their term by 3 years in a vote carried out last Thursday 3 Feb 2010. 435 members attended the session with 421 voting for the extension. In a country where the average wage may be between $100 to $400, depending on the research source, the 500-member parliamentarians receive $300 per month from the UN. 

The UN-supported TFG controls small areas of the capital, Mogadishu, backed by 8,000 African Union troops on peacekeeping duty. Surrounded by Islamist insurgents, they are frequently mortared. However, the TFG has failed to enact any laws in the last 6 years. A key law concerning piracy was recently thrown out. The biggest achievement to date: refurbishing the parliament building it has been claimed.

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, made the following statement:
"I regret the unilateral decision taken on Thursday by the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament to extend its mandate by three years. The decision was taken hurriedly without appropriate consultations on the way forward.
This step risks weakening the credibility of the Transitional Federal Institutions, and of their leadership, in the eyes of the Somali population. I urge the TFIs to re-engage in a broad consultation process, as it is only through such an inclusive process that there can be a sound reform agenda for the transition and beyond, and thus contribute to peace for the people of Somalia.
Progress achieved in this process will help the EU to define the scope and the extent of its support to the present and future institutional set up." 

 So, what is the next step for the TFG? After 20 years of civil war that has hindered any progress; the curtailing of humanitarian support for the starving people; in view of the increase in piracy off the Somali coast, and the claims that the terrirtorial waters are being abused in terms of fishing and toxic waste dumping... elect a new speaker and deputy. The President is likely to re-elect himself, if he so wishes... according to reports.
The TFG has no influence over the other regions of Somalia - Somaliland, which considers itself independent and better governed; or Puntland which is reportedly the region piracy first sprung from - indeed, when Somaliland was stated as establishing a Coast Guard to combat piracy, trained by a private security company and funded by an unknown Arab state, the TFG tried to stamp authority on Somaliland to absolutely no effect.

Considering that almost every proffered solution to the problem of piracy off the Somali coast has been centred on resolving the problem ashore, namely Islamist insurgency and a starving population, it is difficult to see how there will be any effective progress in the near future. If the TFG cannot look after their own, or at least be seen to be heading that way, the question being asked is how can the UN funding be assured of being used for the betterment of the failed state of Somali?

IMO - Piracy: Orchestrating the Response

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) during the Sub-Committee on Standards of Training and Watchkeeping (STW 42), held a workshop entitled "Piracy: Orchestrating the response”: Workshop on piracy, on 26 January. A Speech by Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, the Secretary-General of IMO, was given in which he stated the workshop was to "kick start the action plan to keep piracy at bay."

He gave some statistics, which he said "make very unpleasant reading" as follows:

• In 2010, 253 ships were attacked by pirates resulting in 61 ships hijacked and 1072 seafarers taken hostage; 

• To date, 30 ships and 730 seafarers are in the hands of pirates, of which 7 ships, totalling 109 seafarers, were hijacked since the beginning of the year.

The statistics most regularly quoted for 2010 are those from the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC). Using the statistics from IMB would most likely have delivered more unpleasantness than those the Secretary General mentioned, but it would indicate more lucidly the impact on the seafarer in these dangerous waters around the world. The IMB statistics, available in their annual report (free but a donation is welcomed), are as follows:

• In 2010, 445 attacks were reported, up 10% from 2009;
• In 2010, 53 ships were hijacked;
• In 2010, 1181 hostages were captured by pirates - 8 were killed;
• To date (29 January IMB), 33 ships and 758 seafarers are held by Somali pirates, showing 7 ships and 148 seafarers were taken in 2011.

Those statistics are quite hard-hitting. The IMB has gathered such data for some time now. The IMO stats could have been cross-referenced to ensure an accurate picture is delivered to the maritime community. However, the main point here is that the plight of the seafarer has not improved, hence the workshop and as the Secretary general said, "...very much with seafarers, and those who sail in piracy-affected areas in mind that the IMO Council decided that this year’s World Maritime Day theme should be “Piracy: orchestrating the response”.

The fact the IMO has been dealing with piracy issues for over 30 years - 80's Gulf of Guinea; 90's and early 00's South China Sea, Malacca Straits and Singapore, and the more recent, high profile, Horn of Africa/Indian Ocean - arms them with experience in reducing the effect of piracy. But to use that experience gained and the successes achieved "...requires an orchestrated and coordinated response."

So, with that said, the Secretary General  stated the IMO's position.  Extracting from his speech, the IMO has "developed, in co-operation with the shipping industry, seafaring representative organizations and other stakeholders, an action plan to maintain and, indeed, strengthen our focus on anti-piracy endeavours of all kinds and to facilitate a broader, global effort. We have identified six prime objectives that we hope all stakeholders will espouse  and take action on during 2011 and beyond, if necessary. They are:

• one: to increase pressure at the political level to secure the release of all hostages being held by pirates;
• two: to review and improve the IMO guidelines to Administrations and seafarers and promote compliance with industry best management practices and the recommended preventive, evasive and defensive measures ships should follow;
• three: to promote greater levels of support from, and coordination with, navies;
• four: to promote anti-piracy coordination and co-operation procedures between and among States, regions, organizations and industry;
• five: to assist States to build capacity in piracy-infested regions of the world, and elsewhere, to deter, interdict and bring to justice those who commit acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships; and
• six: to provide care, during the post-traumatic period, for those attacked or hijacked by pirates and for their families.

In clarifying the IMO's position, the Secretary General pointed out that a solution to the Somali problem needed engagement at the political level. It is "...a matter for the United Nations to pursue and neither IMO nor the maritime community have any substantive role to play in it."

Calling "...the world’s attention to the unacceptable plight of the innocent victims of pirates...", the IMO "intend to promote further co-operation between and among States, regions and organizations in reducing the risk of attacks on ships through information-sharing; coordination of military and civil efforts; and development and implementation of regional initiatives, such as the IMO-led Djibouti Code of Conduct."  There should be no respite in their efforts whilst at the same time "promoting even greater levels of coordination among navies, above and beyond the unprecedented degree of co-operation that has already characterized the international naval response."
In the case of Somalia, the IMO seeks to contribute, including "the potential development of a coastal monitoring and law-enforcement force," and will " work with Governments and the industry to ensure that released seafarers and their families receive care during the post-traumatic period."
The Sec gen went on to mention the work of the UN Contact Group for Piracy off the coast of Somalia; the Djibouti Code of Conduct efforts in establishing information-sharing centres in Yemen, Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, as well as a regional training centre in Djibouti. However, in view of the bleak statistics, mentioned above, the IMO are neither proud of, nor content with, the results achieved so far, and subsequently, this year, are resolved to redouble their efforts and, in so doing, generate a broader, global response to modern-day piracy. More needs to be done, by them and others.

If only sharing such information was more widely publicised. There has not been much in the press, either paper, digital (social media) or television.

People are using social media to speak their mind, state their position, express opinion, raise awareness; you name it, they are willing to say something about it. Look at the recent events in Tunisia, Algeria and Eqypt...even the U.S. State department issued guidance via social media, reaching more than just a televison broadcast ever could. This is information-sharing; this is another powerful forum the IMO and other authorities and organisations can utilise to get their message across in support of the seafarers. Make it so!

Full speech available here; courtesy of IMO.org