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'You can't just lose a ship'
21/05/2007 21:57 - (SA)
Abidjan - A broken-down cargo ship stolen
by machete-wielding pirates off Liberia earlier this month is
still missing despite a search involving neighbouring Ivory
Coast's navy and a UN helicopter, officials said on Monday.
Attackers armed with cutlasses and sticks boarded the
67m MV Tahoma Reefer while it was docked off
Monrovia on May 8, beat up the crew then returned to tow the
vessel away while they sought medical care on shore.
"Right now the ship is lost," the vessel's captain, Volodymr
Shteynberh, told Reuters by phone from Monrovia, criticising a
lack of co-ordination between the local authorities and the UN
peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Ivory Coast. 'You can't just lose it'
"They say they are using helicopters and ships to find it.
But it's not a small vessel. You can't just lose it in the sea."
Security experts are concerned the boat could be used by
people traffickers offering Africans illegal passage to Europe
or by drug smuggling gangs. West Africa's Atlantic coast is
increasingly a transit route to Europe for Colombian cocaine.
Shteynberh, who was on board when the pirates attacked, said
their motive was unclear but said the vessel was carrying about
200 tons of heavy fuel, worth about $200 000 at local prices.
The UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL) sent a helicopter to
look for it as soon as it was reported missing on May 11.
"The vessel was spotted being towed by two smaller boats
towards Ivory Coast. "UNMIL, which is not equipped with the
maritime capability to intercept vessels at sea, immediately
alerted the Liberian authorities," it said.
An Ivory Coast navy officer said a warship had been sent
towards the Liberian border, but had failed to locate the vessel. Tighter control
"As we didn't know exactly where it was, it was just a
question of patrolling in case it approached ... We don't have
an exact idea if it is in our waters or not," Captain Charles
Baya told Reuters.
Regional officials say the case highlights the need for
tighter policing of the ports and waters off West Africa and in
the Gulf of Guinea further south, which includes oil producers
Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.
"It brings to the fore the need for a sub-regional coast
guard to be put in place," said Magnus Teye Addico, secretary
general of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa.
He said ministers from West African coastal countries -
from Mauritania in the north to Angola in the south - would
meet in Luanda in July to discuss creating a joint coastguard.
The majority of shipping coming into the United States via
the Gulf of Mexico leaves from West Africa, and the US navy is
also boosting its presence to combat piracy and trafficking.
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