NORTH AMERICAN PANEL
April 27, 2010
UPDATE ON
PIRACY
JOSEPH ANGELO
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR
PIRACY
2009 Worldwide Statistics (IMB)
- 406
- 120
- 153
- 49
attempted incidents
fired upon
boardings
hijackings (12% of incidents)
Major Locations (IMB)
- 196
- 28
- 17
- 16
- 15
- 15
Somalia/Gulf of Aden
Nigeria
Bangladesh
Malaysia
Indonesia
Red Sea
PIRACY
Ship Type (IMB)
- 109 Bulk carrier
- 63 Containership
- 53 General cargo
- 46 Chemical carrier
- 41 Tanker
- 22 Product carrier
- 16 Tug
- 16 Fishing vessel
8 Ro-Ro
6 Yacht
PIRACY - Somalia
• 2008 Statistics
- 111 attempted incidents
- 39 fired upon
- 2 boarded
- 42 hijackings (38% of incidents)
• 2009 Statistics
- 217 attempted incidents
- 114 fired upon
- 1 boarded
- 47 hijackings (22% of incidents)
PIRACY - Somalia
• 2010 Statistics (up to April 11)
- 83 attempted incidents
- 27 fired upon
- 2 boardings
- 22 hijackings (26% of incidents)
• Currently, 13 vessels and 250 seafarers
being held
• Armed guards shot and killed a pirate
during one failed attempt
• Safe room or citadel prevented on
hijacking in another
PIRACY - Somalia
RECENT NEW TRENDS
• Migrant smugglers are cooperating with pirates
• More dhows are being used as mother ships
• Attacks last longer and are more persistent
• Pirate experience has increased substantially
• Weapons' calibre and quality are increasing
• The operating range is increasing to 1200nm
offshore
• Southern groups, battle-hardened in Mogadishu, are
displaying increased violence and greed vis-a-vis
other pirate groups
PIRACY
• Eliminating piracy is a SHARED
RESPONSIBILITY between the
maritime industry and governments,
BUT,
• Establishment of LAW AND ORDER
on the high seas is the responsibility
of governments
GOVERNMENT ROLE
• Provide and maintain sufficient assets
in the region
• Establish and ensure a coordinated
approach
• Establish and ensure a single, or at
least compatible, rules of engagement
• Develop necessary legal authorities to
prosecute pirates
• Develop a long term solution to the
Somalia problem on land
GOVERNMENT ROLE
Sufficient Assets
• Prior to FAINA hijacking, there were
woefully inadequate assets in the region
• Since then the situation has improved
(more than 30 assets)
- European Union established an EU Naval Force
(EUNAVFOR) Operation Atalanta
- Combined Maritime Force established CTF 151
- China, India, Malaysia, Rep of Korea, Russia
and Japan join US, UK, France, Denmark and
other Europeans
- Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1)
• How long will the assets remain???
GOVERNMENT ROLE
Coordinated approach
• SHaDe – Share awareness and (seek)
deconfliction
- Monthly meeting in Bahrain of
representatives of all countries involved
- Enhanced cooperation efforts
• Mercury – secure internet system which
allows the different nationalities involved
to coordinate action
GOVERNMENT ROLE
Rules of Engagement
• There are different rules of engagement for
the assets of the different governments
- Some are allowed to engage upon arrival
on the scene
- Others cannot engage until there are clear
hostilities
• CTF 151 and EURNAVFOR have improved
situation
• Emphasis should be on engaging ASAP
• Some are encouraging lethal engagement
as a deterrent
GOVERNMENT ROLE
Legal Authorities to Prosecute
• Governments have lacked legal authorities
to prosecute captured pirates
• Recent action by UK, Denmark and
US/Kenya agreement are positive steps
• EU agreement with Kenya on legal
framework to prosecute
• IMO sponsored Djibouti Conference
adopted Code of Conduct (Jan 29) also
positive
UN ACTION
• United Nations Security Council Resolution
1851 - Contact Group on Piracy of the coast
of Somalia (Jan 2009)
• Four Working Groups –
- WG1, Military and operational coordination
- WG2, Legal aspects, including arrest,
detention and prosecution
- WG3, Industry awareness and lessons
learned
- WG4, Diplomatic and public information
IMO ACTION
IMO Maritime Safety Committee updated
guidance to governments and industry
• MSC.1/Circ.1333 - PIRACY AND ARMED
ROBBERY AGAINST SHIPS
“Recommendations to Governments for preventing
and suppressing piracy and armed robbery against
ships”
• MSC.1/Circ.1334 - PIRACY AND ARMED
ROBBERY AGAINST SHIPS
“Guidance to shipowners and ship operators,
shipmasters and crews on preventing and
suppressing acts of piracy and armed robbery against
ships”
INDUSTRY ROLE
• Remind all ship owners/operators of IMO guidance
and industry best practices (www.intertanko.com,
go to piracy)
• Encourage full use of all possible passive defensive
measures
• Encourage all companies to register for access to
the MSCHOA web site (http://www.mschoa.org)
• Encourage all ships to register their movements
with the MSCHOA web site and report actual
positions to UK MTO (ukmto@eim.ae)
• Encourage all ships transiting the area to follow the
Group Transit system via the Internationally
Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC)
• Encourage all ships to report attacks to UK MTO
• Provide regular, verified security updates to
shipping companies and their ships
• Share lessons learned and update best practices
Anti-Piracy Chart Q6099
INDUSTRY ROLE
• Average successful piracy attack takes 11
minutes…SO “Detract, Delay, Deter”…every
minute counts
• All 14 ships that have been recently hijacked
(July – January) were not reporting their
movements to UKMTO
• Not one of the vessels was registered with
MSCHOA
• Of the 15,000 vessels with registered transits,
only 2 have been hijacked
INDUSTRY ROLE
• Register with MSCHOA
If they don’t know your intentions, they
cannot assist you!!
• Report regular ship position to
UKMTO
If they don’t know where you are, they
can’t help you!!
• Assess and utilize the Best
Management Practices
• Employ Self Protective Measures
INDUSTRY ROLE
Best Practices
• Advance planning prior to transit
• Conduct passage within Internationally
Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC)
• Transit high risk areas at night
• Minimize external communications
• Increase lookouts and bridge manning
• If attacked:
- activate all alerts and alarm systems
- increase speed and alter course with
continuous zig-zag maneuvers
- activate fire pump defensive measures
• If boarded, offer no resistance
INDUSTRY ROLE
Self Protection Measures are not limited
to the physical mechanisms employed
onboard, but also include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Procedures – Best Management Practices
Company risk assessment / pre-planning
Manoeuvring
Crew (Vigilance)
Physical deterrents in place
Inherent - type / design / size / speed etc.
Vessel Protection Detachments
Communications – Reports – Alerts
Weather
RELATED ISSUES
• Japan: Info-piracy@mlit.go.jp
• India: Dgship@Dgshipping.com
• China: CNMRCC@MSA.GOV.CN or
CNMRCC@MOT.GOV.CN or planavy@navy.mil.cn
• Russia: isps@msecurity.ru or smb@msecurity.ru
• Korea: ddh977@navy.mil.kr
offering escorted group transits through area
• To report for a group transit through the area report
to MSCHOA at postmaster@mschoa.org
• NATO Operation Ocean Shield – continued at sea
counter-piracy operations combined with counterpiracy capacity building for regional states
INTERTANKO ACTIONS
• At the request of the US Maritime Administrator,
coordinated industry association feedback on Best
Management Practices
• Developed model Charter Party Piracy Clauses
(voyage and time charter)
• Provide Merchant Navy Liaison Officer (MNLO) to
Marine Safety Center Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) team
at Northwood, UK
• Issued piracy booklet with OCIMF, lMB, Intercargo
and SIGGTO
• Provide input to UN contact group working groups
1&3 military/operational coordination and on industry
best practices
• Provide input to IMO on the development of
MSC.Circs 1333 and 1334
ARMING SHIPS
On April 16, the US Navy issued a news
release stating the ADM Mark Fitzgerald
Commander of U.S. naval forces in
Europe and Africa and of NATO’s Allied
Joint Task Force Command said:
- the scope of the piracy problem off
Somalia is too great to be policed by
military vessels alone; and
- commercial vessels should arm
themselves
ARMING SHIPS
Armed guards or arming ships’ crews is NOT
an INTERTANKO advocated approach
• Legality for flag states and port states
• Serious potential safety concerns
• Major liability and insurance issues in the
event of death or injury
• Risk of collateral damage
• Potential to provoke an escalation of fire
power by the pirates
ARMING SHIPS
INTERTANKO believes that the use of
armed guards, security forces or
mercenaries onboard merchant ships
has to be a matter for each individual
owner or manager to assess as part of
their own risk assessment, and as a
consequence is unable to endorse any
of those companies or individuals
offering such services.
SUMMARY
• Both industry and governments
recognize that eliminating piracy is a
shared responsibility and each is
doing their part
• Significant progress has been made
by both
• BUT, more must be done to eradicate
piracy and we must work together to
do it
PAYMENT OF RANSOMS
Ban on paying ransom to certain Somali pirates
• Executive Order Concerning Somalia signed on April 13
• NOT piracy focused; aim is to prevent the flow of assets to
the al-Shabaab organization and eleven targeted persons
• Two of the persons have been targeted because of their
admitted leadership with piracy operations
• If a ship is hijacked and it is known, or there is reason to
know, that the hijackers are connected with the operations
of the two named individuals above, or with al-Shabaab,
then the payment of that ransom would fall under the EO,
provided there is a US nexus
PAYMENT OF RANSOMS
• US nexus is a “US person” which is any US citizen,
permanent resident alien, entity organized under the
laws of the US or any jurisdiction within the US, or any
person in the US
• Penalties are in the form of civil or criminal penalties,
NOT the freezing or seizing of assets in the US
• EO would NOT apply to foreign owned, foreign
operated, foreign flagged, foreign crewed tanker that is
hijacked and a ransom is paid, as long as there was no
US nexus
• Law enforcement officials have prosecutory discretion
• OFAC contacts – phone: 1-800 540-6322
email: ofac_feedback@do.treas.gov
THANK
YOU!!
WWW.INTERTANKO.COM