Work Boat World, Ships and Shipping, Ausmarine editorial – November 2008
Over the past few weeks the general media, both print and electronic, have been abuzz with piracy stories. Most, if not all, of them have been focused on the Somalia/Horn of Africa region.
The dramatic increase in the number of acts of piracy in that area recently has led to calls from most Asian and European shipowners associations for something to be done about it. (See pages 36 and 37 in this issue).
Of course, piracy is one of the world's oldest professions. Single ships plying the world's lonely oceans have always been easy and lucrative prey for those so inclined.
Like most criminal activities, piracy tends to flare up in waves or cycles. When it becomes a "significant" problem authorities are persuaded to act by those suffering from the crime.
This is the stage we are now at with respect to piracy. Shipping industry associations and other organisations are now calling stridently for the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and, more widely, the United Nations (UN) to do something about it.
While the main focus is on Somalia, there are a number of other places where piracy is, or has been recently, rampant. I have in mind Nigeria, Eritrea, Colombia, Bangladesh, India and, most importantly, Indonesia.
The International Maritime Bureau, which records such data, has some pretty alarming statistics on piracy. It also has some equally alarming statistics on the generally lackadaisical response to it by affected governments.
There is no doubt that much of the problem has developed due to an almost total failure of United States foreign policy during the George W. Bush incumbency. America has been totally distracted by its Middle-Eastern follies. It has neither the manpower nor the funds to perform its traditional global policeman role.
So also Britain. Brittania no longer rules the waves. In fact the Royal Navy is shrinking to almost microscopic size and capability. Between them, Britain and the United States kept the world's oceans largely clear of pirates for 150 years from the early nineteenth century.
The traditions of battering the Barbary Coast pirates and "sending in a gun boat" are long gone. Such activities used to provide useful experience for young naval officers and their crews.
Now, conversely, we know of young naval and coastguard officers from nations such as Indonesia and India who have gone over to the other side for a bit of moonlighting piracy. Their salaries are undoubtedly low and a spot of "privateering" has been an easy and sometimes profitable sideline.
The vacuum thus created in the absence of the Royal and United States navies has helped to provide such opportunities. It has also allowed the Somalian warlords and their pirate compatriots to largely strike with impunity.
Against this we know of certain ship owners who have taken their own measures to combat piracy. One, in particular, was ultimately threatened by the US Navy which had stood by and refused to help him or his vessels – It is hard to win!
Only the gallant French under their dynamic President Nicolas Sarkozy have, seemingly, made any substantive effort to suppress the pirates. They have done this on at least two occasions by using their forces to rescue their citizens. They have also whacked the pirates hard. They have killed a few and made their brethren think again before attacking another French vessel.
Meanwhile, the good old IMO remains supine. Hiding behind its usual excuse of an inability to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, IMO is just as useless on piracy as it is on passenger vessel incidents.
Its parent organisation, the UN, has at least called for action even if it has made no effective moves towards a solution. It seems it will be left to regional groupings such as the EU which is murmuring about starting to take action. There are rumours of ASEAN and the Japanese doing likewise.
So, with the exception of France and, maybe, ASEAN, Japan and the EU, the world, especially the "powerful" powers, stand back. What, then, is the shipping industry to do?
In the absence of widespread government action to support the United Nations' Resolution 1838 which calls for united anti-piracy activity off Somalia, what about a free enterprise solution.
Most readers would be aware of the American mercenary organisation Blackwater Llc. What about the world's ship owners clubbing together to establish a, for want of a better name, Bluewater to combat piracy and really improve shipping security generally.
Blackwater provides a useful model. The Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are providing large numbers of SAS and Special Forces people with the necessary training and skills.
It would not need to be a vast or even enormously expensive organisation. Just providing pirates with a bloody nose and a big surprise occasionally should be sufficient to discourage all but the most desperate.
