Featured in the August print issue of Professional Security magazine is maritime security.
Somali piracy has fallen to its lowest since 2006, according to the International Chamber Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB)’s global piracy report. However the IMB points to violent piracy and armed robbery off the coast of West Africa so far this year.
Worldwide, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) recorded 138 piracy incidents in the first six months of 2013, compared with 177 incidents for the corresponding period in 2012. Seven hijackings have been recorded this year compared with 20 in the first half of 2012. The number of sailors taken hostage also fell; down to 127 this year from 334 in the first six months of 2012.
In the Gulf of Guinea, in addition to a rise in piracy and armed robbery – 31 incidents so far this year, including four hijackings – IMB reports a surge in kidnappings at sea and a wider range of ship types being targeted. The bureau describes this as a new cause for concern in a region already known for attacks against vessels in the oil industry and theft of gas oil from tankers.
Pottengal Mukundan is Director of IMB, which has monitored world piracy since 1991. He said: “There has been a worrying trend in the kidnapping of crew from vessels well outside the territorial limits of coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea. In April 2013, nine crew members were kidnapped from two container vessels, one of which was 130 nautical miles from the coast. Pirates have used mother-ships, some of which were smaller off-shore supply vessels hijacked by pirates to conduct the attacks. There continues to be significant under-reporting of attacks – a phenomenon highlighted by the IMB year on year. This prevents meaningful response by the authorities and endangers other vessels sailing into the area unaware of the precise nature of the threat.”
Armed pirates in the Gulf of Guinea took 56 sailors hostage and were responsible for all 30 crew kidnappings reported so far in 2013. One person was reported killed and at least another five injured. Attacks off Nigeria accounted for 22 of the region’s 31 incidents and 28 of the crew kidnappings. Mr Mukundan applauded the signing of a Code of Conduct Concerning the Repression of Piracy, Armed Robbery Against Ships, and Illicit Maritime Activity in West and Central Africa in June 2013 by the heads of the West and Central African countries. He hoped that it would be translated soon into action on the water. He said: “If these attacks are left unchecked, they will become more frequent, bolder and more violent. Cooperation and capacity building among the coastal states in this region is the way forward and urgently needed to make these waters safe for seafarers and vessels.”
Somalia
Meanwhile, in East Africa’s Gulf of Aden and Somalia, eight piracy incidents including two hijackings were recorded in the first six months of 2013, with 34 seafarers taken hostage.
IMB attributes this drop in the frequency and range of attacks by Somali pirates to actions by international navies, as well as preventive measures by merchant vessels, including deployment of privately contracted armed security personnel. Mr Mukundan said: “The navies continue to play a vital role in ensuring this threat is kept under control. The two vessels hijacked were recovered by naval action before the pirates could take them to Somalia. Only the navies can take such remedial action after a hijack. Denying the pirates any success is essential to a sustained solution to this crime. Pirates are known to be operating in these waters. Despite the temporary protection provided by the south west monsoon in some parts of the Arabian Sea, the threat remains and vessels are advised to be vigilant and comply with the industry’s Best Management Practices as they transit this area.”
As of 30 June 2013, Somali pirates were holding 57 crew members for ransom on four vessels. They were also holding 11 kidnapped crew members on land in unknown conditions and locations. Four of these crew have been held since April 2010 and seven since September 2010.
Elsewhere, low level thefts against vessels in ports and anchorages in Indonesia accounted for 48 attacks of which 43 vessels were boarded and some crew injured. IMB’s report includes details of the ports and anchorages where attacks appear to be concentrated.
IMB offers the latest piracy reports free. Request a PDF version of the report by email.
Latest attacks may also be viewed on the IMB Live Piracy Map.
Meanwhile specialist fingerprint collection and transmission equipment has been provided by INTERPOL to Seychelles law enforcement.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) has been installed as part of the European Union funded Critical Maritime Routes Law Enforcement Capacity Building in East Africa (CRIMLEA) project implemented by INTERPOL’s Maritime Piracy Task Force.
At the AFIS inauguration, Seychelles Minister for Home Affairs and Transport Joel Morgan said the system – which has already led to a number of identifications – added another level to policing efforts in both national and international investigations.
“Criminals who involve themselves in people smuggling, drug trafficking, piracy or frauds cannot be tackled in isolation. Transnational criminals use technology to their advantage, but today we are also better equipped to assist our allied law enforcement agencies in the fight against such crimes,” said Mr Morgan.
The inauguration was also attended by Lindsay Skoll, British High Commissioner to the Seychelles, Geneviève Iancu, French Ambassador, and Seychelles Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre. INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services, Jean-Michel Louboutin said the new equipment would facilitate the work of the police.
Mr Louboutin said: “Piracy is a complex form of transnational crime because of the many players involved and the difficulty in gathering and processing evidence in a challenging maritime environment. Fingerprints taken from crime scenes and compared to those held in databases has been and remains one of the most effective means of identification.
“Strong international cooperation with a collective, practical approach is the only way to combat maritime piracy effectively, and sharing information such as fingerprints is an essential part of this.”
He pointed to the recent successful transfer of two of several pirates by EU NAVFOR to the Seychelles as a result of fingerprint identification via INTERPOL.
In February 2013 the fingerprints of nine suspects captured on the Indian ocean by a Dutch ship under EU NAVFOR, were sent to INTERPOL. A comparison against the global database revealed a match with two individuals who had been among five pirates arrested in December 2012 by a Belgian ship, also under EU NAVFOR and whose fingerprints had been provided to INTERPOL. A three-year (2011 – 2013) CRIMLEA project, worth EUR 1.6 million, is to enable national law enforcement agencies to combat maritime piracy and armed robbery on the high seas through proactive investigations, specifically by reinforcing their forensic and investigative capacities.
Between September 2012 and May 2013, more than 160 law enforcement personnel from five countries in the region underwent training in a range of areas including crime scene investigation, criminal data analysis and financial crimes investigation. The aim of the CRIMLEA programme is to enhance the capacities of the seven countries of the East African coast – Djibouti, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Yemen – in combating maritime piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
