Pirated vessel Filitsa freed for ransom

SOMALI pirates have released the hijacked bulk carrier Filitsa after the owner payed an undisclosed ransom. following the payment of a ransom by the owner. The vessel was hijacked on 11 November 2009 and had been held at the pirate stronghold of Hobyo on the Somali coast until now.
Meanwhile, on Feb 2, pirates moved another hijacked ship, the ro-ro Asian Glory, from its anchorage off the coast of Somalia to rendezvous with a hijacked fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea northeast of Socotra. The pirates on the fishing vessel transferred to the Asian Glory, which then headed back to Somalia. A western warship assisted the halted fishing vessel, enabling it to continue its voyage.

COMMENT: Stakes are high for the pirates - and they're willing to defend them - an important consideration for the less than 30 navy warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden. But it's a good time to pause and consider why the navies cannot control piracy:

• Reason one is simple. There are not enough naval ships to patrol all the oceans. There has been a general run-down in ship-building and naval power that pirates, drug smugglers, and other criminals are well aware of.
• Next, international cooperation is poor. There are at least three separate maritime task forces in the area, while China, India, and Russia go it alone.
• Third, and just as simple, apolitical criminals like pirates care not a fig for the policies, opinions, ambitions or rivalries of the world powers. Business is business and navies are just one more official nuisance to be evaded.
• In the fourth place, piracy is not run by the pirates, but by the landlubbers who control and organize piracy onshore. No one is willing to take on the mess in places like Somalia or Nigeria where criminality and piracy therefore thrive.

Oddly enough, recent experience seems to show that merchant shipping companies can counter piracy far more effectively than navies can. This year alone, around 80 percent of pirate attacks have been foiled by a combination of marine managers calling in security specialists, by merchant captains' professionalism, and by the courage of ordinary seamen fighting back from their vessels.
How encouraging is that? The answer to defying and defeating the pirates lies increasingly in the private sector, not with weakening national navies.

UN: Global action needed to end piracy

COLONEL Victor Gamor, the military advisor of the United Nations Political Office on Somalia says the war against piracy in Somali waters will never be won pirates are contained on land before they put to sea.
Speaking at a regional maritime forum in Mombasa on September 5, he said firearms being shipped into the country continue to support piracy, despite the international campaign to eradicate it. Gamor said there were 5,100 foreign troops in Somalia, but 8,000 were needed.
He said arms from several countries were being supplied to the militias while pirates were aquiring more sophisticated equipment and huge sums of money being paid in ransom.
"The international community should put more emphasis on addressing the root cause of piracy and a comprehensive strategy adopted in seeking to stabilize the security situation in the country," he said. He conceded that piracy attacks have eased over the past four months.
The Southern African Development Community secretary, Mapolao Mokoena told the forum that since piracy is a global problem affecting all businesses, all countries should unite to deal with it.
"Reinforcing maritime security is best achieved by combining public and private maritime security activities on a global scale into an integrated effort that addresses all maritime threats," she said.
Participants drawn from 17 eastern and southern African countries expressed concern that pirates continued to seize commercial ships. They suggested that the arming of crew members or providing ships with armed escort should be debated.

Link: Bryant's Maritime Blog 090904

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'Tis the season to fight pirates

PIRATE attacks in the Indian Ocean have already passed 2008 levels, when pirates earned at least $30 million in ransoms. Attacks slowed during July and August as bad weather and growing maritime awareness kept the pirates at bay. But with the summer monsoon season winding down, maritime security experts expect to see more active pirates for the last quarter of the year.
An American Navy helicopter took fire in early August as it flew over a hijacked Taiwanese fishing vessel, so pirates are neither deterred nor impressed by navy ships or helicopters. Nonetheless, NATO’s naval operation has reached its first anniversary and its coalition efforts will continue.

Marines teach Africans non-lethal tactics

ELEVEN African states last week attended a four-day conference in Stuttgart, Germany, at which the US Marine Corps demonstrated the latest capabilities in the use of non-lethal weapons and updated tactics for general and maritime security.
Brig. Gen. Tracy Garrett, Marine Forces Africa commander, said it was important for the Marines and their African counterparts to get to know each other well, because they could be operating side by side during future operations.
"There are not that many Marine forces in Africa," Garrett said during the Marine Leaders of Africa Conference 2009.
Many of the African leaders said the nonlethal weapons demonstration was the highlight of the event. The Marine Corps’ 1st Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Company from Rota, Spain, performed the demonstrations.
COMMENT: Nigeria and seven other African nations formed the Gulf of Guinea Commission three years ago to handle disputes in the region. Recently, the commission began talks to create a security force to handle the illegal drug trafficking and piracy attracted by the booming petroleum industry in the region.
"We are increasingly working together on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, one of the most critical and dangerous places because of the combination of rebel movements, drug traffickers, gun runners, and other criminal elements," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier in August during a visit to Nigeria. The country is the fifth-largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S.
"We have a lot of coast, and we need the Marine Corps experience to help control it," said Maj. Onana Mfege, the foreign affairs representative with the Cameroon Air Force.