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Piracy – IMO considers arms on vessels
12 December 2008
The International Maritime Organisation has confirmed its opposition to arming seafarers to deter pirate attacks, but has not ruled out the policy of ships in danger zones carrying armed professional security teams. This position was agreed at a recent meeting of the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee.
There continue to be fears that arming seafarers could escalate violence if a ship comes under attack. However, the IMO acknowledged that some flag states and shipowners might chose to use armed professional security teams on board their ships.
Military protection for ships transiting the Gulf of Aden has been stepped up with new anti-piracy patrols from European Union warships and aircraft. The UK, France, Germany and other EU countries are supplying ships and surveillance planes to escort ships through the area. The EU mission takes over from the current NATO exercise, and will last at least a year.
South Korea has also announced that it is to send naval vessels to escort its merchant shipping in the area. They will join ships from the US, India, Malaysia and Russia currently patrolling Somali waters.
Somali pirates continue to hold around 15 captured ships and up to 300 crew. In a recent incident, pirates attacked a Dutch container ship off the coast of Tanzania on 6 December – another incident well outside the Gulf of Aden danger zone. Although the attack caused a fire on board, the pirates failed to capture the vessel.
Meanwhile, the French container shipping group CMA CGM has announced that it will now pay the internationally agreed double pay to crew on its ships transiting the Gulf of Aden. It had initially said it would not pay the bonus immediately, but climbed down after the unions threatened to seek support of the ITF for action against the company’s ships.
The International Maritime Bureau – the main international piracy reporting centre – continues to report incidents in other parts of the world. Ten pirates boarded a cargo ship en route from Thailand to Singapore in early December, and robbed the crew of cash, valuables and phones. South Korea will send naval vessels to escort its vulnerable merchant ships of less than 30,000dwt and 15kt in the Gulf of Aden, the Korea Shipowners’ Association has said. The IMB is also concerned about the growth of incidents in West Africa, especially in the Niger delta.
All attacks and suspicious sightings should be reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, Tel: +603 2031 0014 (24 hours), Email: imbkl@icc-ccs.org
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