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Piracy Incidents Down

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Steps taken by the international maritime community have paid off, reducing the threat of piracy in the Arabian Sea’s Gulf of Aden, according to the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Safety and Shipping Review 2014. The number of ships seized and hostages taken was down significantly in 2013. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), piracy at sea is at the lowest level in six years—264 attacks were recorded worldwide in 2013, a 40% drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011. There were 15 incidents reported off Somalia in 2013, including Gulf of Aden and Red Sea incidents—down from 75 in 2012, and 237 in 2011 (including attacks attributed to Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Oman).

But while the number of incidents in this region has gone down, piracy attacks in other areas have increased in frequency, notably Indonesia and off the west coast of Africa. While most of these Indonesian attacks remain local, low level opportunistic thefts carried out by small bands of individuals, a third of the incidents in these waters were reported in the last quarter of 2013, meaning there is potential for such attacks to escalate into a more organized piracy model unless they are controlled.

The Gulf of Guinea region accounted for 48 of the 264 incidents in 2013. Of these, Nigerian pirates and armed robbers were responsible for 31 incidents, including two hijackings, 13 vessel boardings and 13 vessels fired upon. One crew member was killed and 36 kidnapped—the highest number of Nigerian kidnappings for five years, according to the IMB.

Pirate Attacks Decrease Drastically

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In the past several years, pirate attacks on vessels in the northern Indian Ocean made headlines as hostages and the ships on which they worked were held for ransom in record numbers. It proved to be an attractive and lucrative career for poor residents of Somalia and surrounding areas — many of whom have little prospects for traditional money-making opportunities.

But pirates haven’t been so successful in recent months. In fact, the U.S. Navy reports that there was an 80% decline in overall attempted attacks in 2012 compared with 2011. In terms of vessels hijacked, the number decreased by almost 75%. The reason for this drastic decrease is simple: self-defense.

As African Business reports:

“The ultimate security measure a commercial ship can adopt is the use of privately contracted armed security teams,” says Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the US State Department. “These teams are often made up of former members of various armed forces, who guard merchant ships during transits through high risk waters,” he told a recent briefing in Washington. “The use of armed private sector security teams has been a potential game changer in combating piracy. To date, not a single ship with armed security personnel aboard has been successfully pirated.”

Other protective measures adopted by merchant shipping includes passing through high risk areas at full speed and erecting physical barriers, such as razor wire, to make it more difficult for pirates to come aboard.

So, even though the threat remains, it seems that companies are taking every effort to prevent attacks on vessels and staff. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted in a 2009 speech, “We may be dealing with a 17th century crime, but we need to bring 21st century solutions to bear.” It seems those 21st century solutions are working.

 

 

Somali Pirates: Attacks Down but Reach Spreads

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We’ve covered the pirate crisis in the Gulf of Aden numerous times — once in the February 2009 issue of Risk Management and twice more on this blog (The Rising Price of Piracy Insurance and Security at Sea).

Though the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) states that sea attacks worldwide fell by more than a third in the first quarter of this year, the attacks continue. Pirates are now increasing their area of surveilance and capture (it now includes the massive Indian Ocean) and though U.S. and foreign warships have been canvassing the area, the pirates have not backed down. In fact, their army and area of operation has seemed to grow.

This week alone, three Thai fishing vessels were seized in hijackings 1,200 miles east of Somalia in the Indian Ocean — the farthest from the Somali coast pirates have ever attacked, according to the EU Naval Force. A total off 77 crew were taken hostage.

And just yesterday, in the fourth attack in less than a week, pirates seized a bulk carrier — the Liberian-owned Voc Daisy — in the Gulf of Aden. The ship was heading from the UAE towards to the Suez Canal when it, along with its crew of 21, were taken hostage.

After a successful pirate hijacking, the shipping company that owns the vessel will, in most cases, immediately issue a ransom for the return of the ship and crew. But that may become a bit tougher for American ships should they fall victim to a pirate attack.

The shipping industry has long seen ransom payments to retrieve hijacked vessels, cargos and crews as a cost of doing business. But after Obama last week issued an executive order on Somalia, shipping officials say it’s no longer clear whether companies with U.S. interests can legally pay ransoms. The industry is worried because ransoms have been the only way to quickly and safely free hostages.

The order states it is illegal for anyone to supply financing to any Somalis involved in military activities. Contrary to that, the U.S. Treasury Department said it is not interested in prosecuting anyone trying to free hostages. This understandably puts shipping companies in a tough place.

“Taking away our ability to secure the safe release of our crew members and vessels could put us as an employer and ship owner in a very difficult position,” Moller said. “Thankfully we have not had to test such a scenario under these restrictions and it’s difficult for us to comment further on the consequences of the order without speculating.”

The IMB states that currently, pirates hold 14 vessels and 305 hostages.

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The IMB live piracy map illustrates where pirate attacks have occurred so far this year.