Military 'only solution' to piracy

2008-11-21 07:51

Singapore - A more aggressive military approach is the only answer to an escalation of piracy off Somalia, the world's biggest oil tanker company said Friday.

"I think that's the only solution," Martin Jensen, acting chief executive officer of Oslo-based Frontline Ltd, told AFP in an interview.

He said Frontline, which has 80 tankers, is considering whether to divert its ships from Somalia and the treacherous Gulf of Aden, "if there's no quick international force or situation being applied".

Jensen, whose company has an office in Singapore, said Frontline is holding serious internal talks about whether to avoid the Gulf of Aden but the matter would have to be discussed with owners of the cargo.

"The main consideration, that's the safety of the crew and the ship," he said.

Right deterrent

But Jensen added that piracy was not a problem that one company can solve, and his preference was for a military approach.

"It doesn't solve anything by diverting," he said.

Last weekend pirates seized their biggest prize so far, the Saudi Arabian oil tanker Sirius Star. It was loaded with two million barrels of oil when they attacked it hundreds of kilometres off the coast of Kenya.

The pirates have demanded a ransom of $25m, while more than a dozen other vessels are being held in Somali waters by pirates.

In the face of their audacity, Russia's Nato envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, called for a land military force to confront the pirates on their home turf.

Nato sent four warships into the Gulf of Aden last month on anti-piracy duties and to escort aid vessels, while a European Union anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia is to begin on December 8.

But the world's navies are struggling to find the right deterrent and any use of force might have little effect, experts say.

Jensen said his ships travel near pirate-infested Somalia every week, and one of them, the Front Voyager, recently had a narrow escape.

"A pirate boat approached but before they got too close the ship was able to get naval assistance," he said, adding the problem is escalating.

One of the world's biggest shipping lines, Denmark's AP Moeller-Maersk, said on Thursday it will divert some of its vessels around the tip of South Africa to avoid pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

In a statement, it said ships that are too slow-- or with decks low enough for pirates to scramble aboard - will "seek alternative routing" around the Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar.

Alternatively, they could join a naval convoy through the Gulf of Aden, if one is available.

Norwegian shipping company Odfjell said on Monday that it, too, would choose the longer, more expensive but also safer route around the Cape of Good Hope.

Jensen said the southern route is about 40% longer, "so of course that would be quite a cost."

- AFP