The Jolly Roger laughs loudly
Every year piracy takes more and more threatening forms. It looks strange, but in the XXI century with its technology and naval power an effective fight against piracy has not yet been established. And the obstacle here is not the lack of weapons or technologies of detection of pirate ships, but rather the ideological motivation of a number of powers, not willing to take strict measures.
Ultimate fighting
The main factor contributing to the development of piracy, is the instability existing in the coastal African goverment Somalia, the territory of which used to be former colonial possessions of Britain and Italy. During the civil Somalia citizents got used to military actions and knew how to handle weapons. And though the international community has formally recognized Unites Federal Government of Somalia, in reality, the country broke up into several pseudo-goverment formations.
Experiencing impunity after the first attacks Somali piracy has been constantly gathering pace since 2008. Now the gangsters act with impudence hundreds miles away from Somalia - in the Indian Ocean.
According to Arthur Davydenko, the expert of Naval Bulletin-Sovfracht, primarily due to piracy activity ships have to bypass the "danger zone", established by large international organizations, which entails an increase of delivery period and quantity of usable fuel, especially heading to ports of Madagascar and South Africa. Additional costs burden is often shifted to the cargo owner. Many owners, however, do not follow the recommendations concerning the "zone of danger", sending the shift directly, which presupposes a high risk of capture.
"It should also be noted that piracy has the potential to increase insurance premiums for ships passing through dangerous water areas. At present the market suggest special insurance offers, in accordance with which the company-insurer takes the responsibility to negotiate and take ransom on the board of the ship in case of capture ", - the expert says.
Pirates usually attack the ships in small groups consisting of the base ship with ammunition, food and other necessities, and two or three fast boats directly involved in the attack and seizure of vessels. This groups consists of a few people, usually not more than 20. Pirates are armed with assault rifles, machine guns and use rifle and hand grenades. Typically, approaching a ship, they fire at it, penetrate on the board and force crew to surrender. Such attacking team is powerless before any military ship or helicopter, as well as armed guards on the board of the ship (since the height of merchant vessels provides the advantage of fire to those standing on the defense). Under certain conditions, pirate capture can be prevented by maneuvering and increase of speed, but it is not always possible.
In March 2010 the first private guard of vessel MV Almezaan, shot dead a pirate who tried to capture the ship. Others were detained.
According to Arthur Davydenko, the presence of weapons on board - a complex issue regarding international maritime law. It causes legal problems when "armed" ships call at the ports, when they are detained, etc. Weapons on board may also result in an escalation of conflict and cause innocent victims.
However, private armed guards aimed at protection against piracy are considered to be the most effective means of capture prevention, as an expert believes. When the pirates try to capture a ship armed guards make warning shots, after which the pirates usually cease all attempts to get closer to such a vessel. "If you draw a parallel with the various devices designed to protect the ship from attack, some of them (such as, for example, spraying water of high temperature on the ship's sides) can impeded pirates to take on board, making thugs angry, which can cause the worst effects for the crew than the "simple" capture. The use of private armed guards virtually eliminates the seizure of the vessel due to its (the ship) advantageous firing position ", - the expert reports.
Killing Social Democracy
EU countries the most advanced concerning their Naval positions are located very closely to the area of pirate activity, organized anti-piracy operation "Atalanta", consisting of several warships and reconnaissance flight, patrolling the region. However, the effectiveness of the measures taken by EU is quite small - the military try not to use weapons against criminals, and after their detention in many cases they simply release them, confining themselves to the destruction of boats.
The low effectiveness of the EU combat against piracy, in our opinion, lies in the the ideological plane. The fact is that Europe is dominated by social-democratic ideals of political correctness. That is why Europe does not want to act with violence against the pirates (who are also members of the black race - could be accused of racism), EU does not want to try them in an attempt to cross the given burden to other African countries.
Thus in March 2009 EU and Kenya signed an agreement whereby the latter undertook to take the detainees pirates in its prisons and to exercise justice over them in exchange for financial assistance. However, Europeans did not manage to cross liability to this State - Kenya's government recently announced a waiver of the implementation of this agreement, as the international community does not grant any support to it. At present, over a hundred of Somali pirates serve a sentence in prisons of Kenya, a few dozen awaiting sentencing.
The U.S. treat this issue even more soberly. Thus, with the personal order of President Barack Obama American special forces managed to eliminate the pirates in the liberation of Richard Philipps, the captain of the vessel Maersk Alabama. As a result, three bandits were killed, and the captain was released.
Even more effectively the problem of piracy is treated in China. Over there the captured robbers are simply shot (800 robbers executed). As a result, pirates prefer not to mess with PRC – flagged.
"The number of merchant ships and sailors captured by Somali pirates is growing, and now bandits remind of themselves every day. Meanwhile, the debate about how to fight the pirates are constantly held, but the international community can not reach agreement, and countries continue to struggle with the perpetrators separately ", - according to the report by the Russian Trade Union of Seamen (affiliated with the International federation of transport workers).
Who are they to judge us?
The issue of combat against piracy was discussed at the forum of Heads of Maritime trade unions of the Asia-Pacific region, which has been recently held in Manila (Philippines). According to Petr Osichansky, the head of the Far East labor inspection of Russian trade union of sailors, the problem of piracy is of a great concern to the union. The prevention of attacks and seizure of vessels is discussed by many government bodies and public organizations, but they have not arrived at a consensus so far. Everyone understands that the marine robbery should not go unpunished, it is necessary to take measures not only to prevent and arrest the pirates, but also to carry out criminal prosecution of them .Meanwhile, representatives of countries only speak about the need for an establishment of international trial of the captured pirates.
At the conference in Manila, the trade unions decided to join forces and push the government to take more drastic measures to combat this evil. In particular, transport workers have decided to ensure that the areas where attacks and seizures occur would be treated as military zones. In this case the trade unions want to oblige ship owners to pay for the ship passing a zone of danger at higher rates, as well as to implement a special insurance of ships crew at the time of navigation in water areas, where sea reavers run the show. It is also suggested to make short term courses mandatory for sailors, where they would be taught how to behave in an extreme situation.
Due to the lack of effective measures to prevent piracy, the International Federation of Transport Workers intends to initiate an international campaign, which should encourage the government to address this issue to a full extent.
"At the end of last year we have already warned that some point was reached where the corresponding regions became too dangerous, and should not be accessed without emergency. We also stressed that scandalous situation when governments receive billions from shipping activities, but at the same time they do not do anything to protect ships. Since then there are no visible improvement, - says Steve Cotton, the marine coordinator of the International Federation of Transport Workers. - The reality is that the sailors are risking their lives by providing transportation of goods in the world through the region, which is becoming more dangerous. And the situation will not change without serious efforts aimed at normalization of the situation in Somalia and prosecution of pirates.
Picky bullet
Of course, the origin of Somali piracy is that there are no central authority in this country, that would be able to control the situation.
"To solve the problem of piracy effective government must be formed in Somalia. Currently some provinces make such attempts (eg Somaliland) to create sovereign entities. As a result, there is Coast Guard performing certain anti-piracy actions, but it is ineffective because of poor funding ", - said Arthur Davydenko.
However, the question of stabilizing the situation in Somalia - this issue not to be solved in one year. But people need to have normal life now.
Therefore, in our opinion, in the first place we should take measures that would effectively protect the ships and their crews from criminal attacks. The main problem here is of legal and ideological origin. Pirates should be regarded as terrorists, because they are taking hostages, and the regions of their activity - as a zone of counter-terrorism operations. It would destroy the pirates on the spot, because the countries are unlikely to agree to establish the unified and effective international trial of pirates.
If past experience is any guide, the most effective methods to combat piracy is to place armed guards on merchant ships and the execution of captured pirates, as well as the release of the hostages by force, without providing compensation. However, it may be not profitable to owners to spend money on upkeep of guard, and they may confine themselves to insurance - and here trade unions should join, which get income from the owners and must bear at least some responsibility for the vessels sailing under their jurisdiction.