The fall-out

It has had an impact. There are many owners today who are routing their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope-off the coast of South Africa – rather than through the Gulf of Aden which is seen to be a higher risk route. That has had a knock-on effect for, example, on the income of […]

It has had an impact. There are many owners today who are routing their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope-off the coast of South Africa – rather than through the Gulf of Aden which is seen to be a higher risk route. That has had a knock-on effect for, example, on the income of the Suez Canal which is a major contributor to the economy of Egypt. Then of course the speed of delivery is compromised – and other costs to companies such as insurance rates remain very high.

But navies from the European Union and Nato have stepped up their presence in the region – why is this failing to solve the problem?

It’s primarily because of Somalia itself that is a failed state trying to cope with a major criminal phenomenon. Criminals take advantage of this, seizing ships very far out to sea, as much as 1,000 nautical miles from the coast. But there has been a lot of progress – particularly in the Gulf of Aden. From early July until late September 2009 there was not a single successful hijacking. Although attacks were taking place, the pirates weren’t able to take ships.

And now?

This year there have been nine attacks of which there have been two hijackings in the Gulf of Aden and one hijacking in the Indian Ocean.

But it seems like Somalia will be in a dire state for years to come-so the navies are there for the long haul then?

The navies have to be there – they are a key part of the protection of merchant ships. If not, then we are back to the days of late 2008 when there was a successful hijacking every four days. It is going to be a long-term operation – our efforts are succeeding relatively well in the Gulf of Aden, but the real problems are in the Indian Ocean (which is so large and difficult to police).

So what is the solution for now?

What we’d like to see happening is these navies going after the pirates’ ‘mother ships’. Actually, this is required under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1897 which calls for the seizure and disposal of equipment and weapons used by – or suspected to be used by – the pirates. Getting to the mother ships is vital because the hijackings happen so far out at sea. The pirates take bigger ships out and when they see a target vessel approaching, they release small skiffs with armed people on board who then attack the vessels.

But are there still commercial ships risking the trip?

There are still vessels operating in the area – but with every voyage they are very conscious of the risks they are taking.