IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan commented: “Whilst the use of hijacked vessels as mother ships is not a new phenomenon, the abduction of crew members could signal a significant new development.”
At least five large hijacked cargo ships and three fishing vessels have acted as mother ships in the last couple of months, posing a new and significant threat to the safety of shipping. The five cargo vessels range in size from MT 5,000 to 72,000 in deadweight – or cargo carrying capacity – and include four tankers and a general cargo vessel. More than 100 crew members from these hijacked cargo vessels, are being forced to facilitate the attacks and in effect provide a human shield to any potential naval intervention.
This is infuriating to read, because the world is just standing by as a crime wave takes place. It is frustrating from my point of view because here we have this vibrant and experienced wartime security contracting industry willing and able to protect every boat out there, and yet the response to this fast paced piracy scourge has been to throw money at them. Keep paying ransoms and keep fueling the very industry that benefits from these criminal acts–insanity…..
The other story here is the piracy strategies out there are evolving and these folks are able to scale up their operations because of these new strategies. What they are doing is using one vessel to attack another larger vessel, and then using those larger vessels to prey on similar larger vessels. Then they use the hostages from the prior vessels taken as a kind of mobile human shield/hostage currency.
This strategy is also great for false flag or Q-ship style attacks. If vessels are unable to tell if another captured vessel is under pirate control, then these captured ships can do all sorts of interesting things. They can maneuver closer to other ships, they can increase their speed to match that of other ships, they can pretend to be a ship in distress, and they can force all of their captured hostages to pretend to be active crew members on the top decks. Today’s pirates certainly understand the value of Q-ships to their industry.
Finally, today’s current anti-piracy strategy sucks. We have billions of dollars of naval hardware from around the world, that cost millions of dollars to operate every day, and their strategies have not stopped today’s piracy. We have more hostages taken, more boats taken, and an expansion of piracy territories. In other words, we have yet to offer an effective challenge to this innovative and vibrant piracy industry.
And now other entrepreneurs are watching and learning from today’s pirates. So yes, it would be nice to square away Somalia on the mainland and that might put a little bit of a dent in the industry itself. But I think what today’s strategists forget is that what we are looking at are the beginnings of an ‘open source piracy’ era. Pirates are emerging from all over the world, and they are learning from what the Somali’s are doing. It is a very basic concept, and because there is no effective anti-piracy strategy to stop them this open source piracy will just spread and flourish.
Of course putting armed security on the boats is a no-brainer, but that alone will not stop this open source piracy scourge. You need to create an industry out of destroying these folks, and not just an industry that deals with the effects of piracy. We could also learn a thing or two from those that actually wiped out piracy. Guys like Pompey or Woodes Rogers did an excellent job of eradicating this scum, and yet here we are in modern times with the same problems they faced and we have yet to get organized and do what is necessary. –Matt
Hostage-taking at sea rises to record levels, says IMB
Latest attack changes dynamic of Somali piracy
Somali pirates closer to India; premiums up
Hostage-taking at sea rises to record levels, says IMB
Monday, 17 January 2011
More people were taken hostage at sea in 2010 than in any year on record, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) global piracy report disclosed today. Pirates captured 1,181 seafarers and killed eight. A total of 53 ships were hijacked.
The number of pirate attacks against ships has risen every year for the last four years, IMB revealed. Ships reported 445 attacks in 2010, up 10% from 2009. While 188 crew members were taken hostage in 2006, 1,050 were taken in 2009 and 1,181 in 2010.
“These figures for the number of hostages and vessels taken are the highest we have ever seen,” said Captain Pottengal Mukundan, Director of the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre, which has monitored piracy worldwide since 1991. “The continued increase in these numbers is alarming.”
“As a percentage of global incidents, piracy on the high seas has increased dramatically over armed robbery in territorial waters,” said Captain Mukundan. “On the high seas off Somalia, heavily armed pirates are overpowering ocean-going fishing or merchant vessels to use as a base for further attacks. They capture the crew and force them to sail to within attacking distance of other unsuspecting vessels.”
According to IMB, hijackings off the coast of Somalia accounted for 92% of all ship seizures last year with 49 vessels hijacked and 1,016 crew members taken hostage. A total of 28 vessels and 638 hostages were still being held for ransom by Somali pirates as of 31 December 2010.
While attacks off the coast of Somalia remain high, the number of incidents in the Gulf of Aden more than halved last year, with 53 attacks in 2010 down from 117 in 2009. IMB attributes this reduction to the deterrence work of naval forces from around the world that have been patrolling the area since 2008 and to ships’ application of self-protection measures recommended in Best Management Practices, version 3 (BMP 3), a booklet published last year by the shipping industry and navies.
“The naval units in the seas off the Horn of Africa should be applauded for preventing a huge number of piracy attacks in the region,” said Captain Mukundan. “The continued presence of international navies is vital in protecting merchant ships along these important trade routes.”
But Somali pirates are travelling further afield. In December 2010, they reached as far south as the Mozambique Channel and as far east as 72° East longitude in the Indian Ocean, an operating range IMB says is unprecedented.
What can be done to stop the surge of piracy on the high seas? Captain Mukundan said the answer lies primarily onshore in South Central Somalia. “There is a desperate need for a stable infrastructure in this area,” he said. “It is vital that governments and the United Nations devote resources to developing workable administrative infrastructures to prevent criminals from exploiting the vacuum left from years of failed local government. All measures taken at sea to limit the activities of the pirates are undermined because of a lack of responsible authority back in Somalia from where the pirates begin their voyages and return with hijacked vessels.”
Elsewhere, violent attacks continued around Nigeria, with incidents concentrated near the port of Lagos. Overall, 13 vessels were boarded, four vessels fired upon and there were two attempted attacks.
In Bangladesh, the number of armed robbery incidents rose for the second successive year. Twenty-one vessels were boarded, mainly by attackers armed with knives. Almost all were anchored in the port of Chittagong.
Indonesia saw its highest levels of armed robbery against ships since 2007. Thirty vessels were boarded, nine attacks were thwarted and one vessel was hijacked. Vessels were underway in 15 of the attacks. The South China Seas recorded 31 incidents, more than double the previous year. Twenty-one vessels were boarded, seven attacks attempted, two vessels were fired upon and one was hijacked. The last quarter of 2010 was quiet, with only one reported incident.
The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre is the world’s only manned centre to receive reports of pirate attacks 24 hours a day from across the globe. IMB strongly urges all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspicious piracy and armed robbery incidents to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. This first step in the response chain is vital in ensuring that adequate resources are allocated by authorities to tackle piracy. Transparent statistics from an independent, non-political, international organization can act as a catalyst to achieve this goal.
Story here.
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Latest attack changes dynamic of Somali piracy
Friday, 14 January 2011 12:08
A recent incident could signal a worrying development in the tactics employed by Somali pirates, according to the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
On 12 January 2011, suspected Somali pirates boarded a general cargo vessel some 270 NM north east of Socotra Island. The attack was launched from a previously-captured fishing vessel currently being used as a mother ship. Six crew members- two Danes and four Filipinos- were removed from their ship and transferred to the hijacked fishing vessel.
Hijacked vessels have previously been used by the pirates, enabling a greater range and capability- meaning they can operate further into the Indian Ocean and with no interference by naval forces.
IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan commented: “Whilst the use of hijacked vessels as mother ships is not a new phenomenon, the abduction of crew members could signal a significant new development.”
At least five large hijacked cargo ships and three fishing vessels have acted as mother ships in the last couple of months, posing a new and significant threat to the safety of shipping. The five cargo vessels range in size from MT 5,000 to 72,000 in deadweight – or cargo carrying capacity – and include four tankers and a general cargo vessel. More than 100 crew members from these hijacked cargo vessels, are being forced to facilitate the attacks and in effect provide a human shield to any potential naval intervention.
IMB strongly urges all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted or suspicious piracy, and armed robbery incidents to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC). Captain Mukundan said this first step in the response chain is vital in ensuring that governments allocate adequate resources to tackling piracy. He said that transparent statistics from an independent, non-political, international organization act as a catalyst to achieve this goal.
Ships are advised to maintain anti-piracy watches and report all piratical attacks and suspicious movements of craft to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Story here.
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Somali pirates closer to India; premiums up
Jan 20, 2011
Attacks such as these have prompted the joint war committee (JWC), representing London’s marine insurance community and independent security consultants, to add the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea as areas that could see attacks, terror strikes and related perils for ships.
Somalian pirates appear to have expanded their reach to Indian maritime waters and insurers are responding by increasing premiums, resulting in higher costs for shipping firms. On 9 January, Somalian pirates hijacked Indian ship MSV Al Musa near New Mangalore port, according to regulator Directorate General of Shipping (DGS). The ship was sailing from Gujarat to Salalah in Oman with a cargo of vegetables. On 5 December, the pirates hijacked another vessel, MV Jahan Moni, from Bangladesh, according to DGS. The incident happened within 270 nautical miles of the Indian mainland and less than 70 nautical miles from Lakshadweep. Attacks such as these have prompted the joint war committee (JWC), representing London’s marine insurance community and independent security consultants, to add the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea as areas that could see attacks, terror strikes and related perils for ships. Mint has reviewed a 16 December 2010 circular signed by Neil Roberts, secretary of JWC to this effect.
From 1 January, according to this note, the Arabian Sea up to 75 degrees east longitude and the Indian Ocean have been notified as areas where additional war risk insurance will be levied by war risk underwriters. The two areas are listed as “areas of perceived enhanced risk” by underwriters in the UK. “This expanded area which is deemed to be of high risk of piracy attack will, in effect, raise premiums for vessels in a far wider area and apply to areas close to Indian coast (outside 12 nautical miles offshore). Vessels engaged in trade with India will definitely be impacted as would Indian vessels,” said a letter written by the Indian National Shipowners’ Association (Insa) to defence authorities. Mint has reviewed the letter. The lobby group said 17 hijacks and 29 attacks against vessels happened in 2010 in roughly the same region. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), a non-profit organization established to act as a focal point in the fight against all types of maritime crime and malpractice, is also convinced the pirates are expanding their operations.
“There have been attacks in Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. This seems to be quite serious. Pirates are also using small hijacked ships and hijacked merchant vessels to conduct piracy operations as ‘mother vessels’ to sail far from the Somali coast to attack and hijack passing vessels,” said an IMB spokesperson. A Monday report from IMB said more people were taken hostage at sea in 2010 than ever before. All told, the pirates captured 1,181 sailors, killed eight and hijacked 53 ships. And ships reported 445 attacks in the year, 10% higher than in 2009. Apart from the risks to the freedom and lives of crew, the attacks and hijacks also increase insurance premiums. For instance, the minimum additional premium on account of such attacks for a very large crude carrier valued at US$64 mn (Rs. 290 crore) and carrying a cargo of 260,000 million tonnes (mt), will be around US$200,000 per month. A bulk carrier (valued at US$50 mn) carrying 50 mt will have to pay an additional premium of US$50,000 a month. The increase will directly add to the cost of India’s exports and imports.
Already, the country’s largest shipping company Shipping Corp. of India Ltd, has increased its piracy surcharge from $40 to $80 for every 20 ft container. The increase came into effect on 15 January. In keeping with good anti-piracy practices recommended by the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping, vessels will have to ply at full speed through the Arabian Sea, adding to fuel costs. Anjali Kumar, a spokesperson for Great Eastern Shipping Co. Ltd, India’s largest private sector shipping firm, said companies would have to adopt pre-emptive measures to counter-attacks by pirates, but added that insurance premiums have only increased marginally till now. Industry lobby Insa, however, is trying to ensure that the impact is minimized. Its letter to the defence ministry says: “It will be necessary to be able to demonstrate to the joint war committee the reduction in threat within our coast so that JWC can be prevailed upon to redemarcate the zones.”
Story here.