'Target pirate mother ships'
2008-10-31 11:41
London - International naval forces
operating off the coast of Somalia must be prepared to take on
pirate 'mother ships' if they are to stem rampant piracy, a
senior maritime official said on Thursday.
"We want pre-emptive action against the mother ships before
the pirates carry out a hijacking," said Captain Pottengal
Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime
Bureau, which monitors international piracy, referring to the
ships pirates use as bases from which to launch attacks.
"The positions of the mother ships are generally known. What
we would like to see is the naval vessels going to interdict
them, searching them and removing any arms on board.
"That would at least force the pirates to go back to Somalia
to pick up more arms before they could come back again," he told
Reuters in an interview.
Attempts to stem piracy
US, European and Russian navy ships, including a fleet
operating under NATO, have moved into the Gulf of Aden in recent
days to try to stem the piracy threat and protect some of the
20 000 merchant vessels that use the waterway each year.
Around 60 vessels have been seized by pirates this year,
with an estimated $18-30m paid in ransom for the release
of crews and ships. A Turkish vessel with 20 crew on board was
seized on Wednesday.
But the laws governing what navies can do to take on the
pirates are complex. Only if pirates are caught in the act of
piracy - actually boarding a ship and seizing it - can a naval
ship intervene with the full force of international law.
Arriving 30 minutes after a vessel has been boarded, when
there is a degree of uncertainty over whether those on board are
pirates or not, is often too late, experts say. Denmark recently
had to return some suspected pirates to Somalia because it
couldn't prove they were pirates after they were seized.
So fuzzy are the laws that the US admiral commanding the
NATO fleet was not sure what his rules of engagement would be
just days before he left to take up his command this month.
Mukundan said there were currently about four 'mother ships'
- seized dhows or other larger fishing boats anchored near
international waters - being used by pirates.
Tricky legalities
The pirates live on the mother ships, storing arms, fuel and
other supplies on board, and then target ships, which can
include fuel tankers, by catching up to them in high-speed boats
and boarding them with rope ladders while heavily armed.
Mukundan acknowledged the legalities of taking on 'mother
ships' were tricky, but said it could be done if governments
gave their naval forces instructions to do it.
"Our position is that this is a major world waterway and it
needs to be protected. The only people that can protect it are
the naval forces operating in the area.
"They need to have the direction from their government to do
it," he said. "At the end of the day, it depends upon the
instructions given to naval commanders on the water by their
governments."