Cabinet has tasked Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu with developing a strategy to address the threat of piracy in Southern African waters. Sisulu told a media briefing this morning the Valour-class frigate SAS Mendi was already off Mozambique informally collecting information on piracy and cooperating with authorities there “to ensure maritime security in Southern African waters.”
Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi at a post-Cabinet media briefing earlier said the executive had “noted the increasing threat of piracy in South African waters and agreed to explore initiatives aimed at assisting Somalia to counter some of the root causes of piracy.” Government also “further supported the implementation of the Eastern and Southern African-Indian Ocean (EAS-IO) strategy to combat piracy along the coast of Somalia and the greater Southern African waters.”
Manyi said the strategy, once completed, would be put to Cabinet for consideration. He noted the “strategy that will focus on South Africa’s stance in relation to stabilising the political situation in Somalia; the legislative framework dealing with criminals involved in piracy; the positioning and strengthening of South African naval forces’ capacity in relation to the continent and other countries; and co-opting assistance from neighbouring countries.”
Sisulu added at a Cabinet cluster briefing afterwards that depending on the contents of the strategy and Cabinet’s decision, Project Biro, the SA Navy programme to acquire new patrol vessels to replace some nine obsolete and worn-out small ships, may again move to the proverbial front burner. “The frigates are too big [and expensive to operate for counter-piracy patrols],” Sisulu said. She avered that Biro “was shelved last year” as it was “not such an immediate option for us.”
South Africa’s “main priority is the continuity of trade and the smooth movement of cargo within the SADC (Southern African Development Community) maritime zone.” Sisulu continued that the Cabinet decision follows a pirate attack on a Mozambican vessel in that country’s territorial waters on December 28. Maputo afterwards asked South Africa’s assistance in combating the scourge under an existing Memorandum of Understanding.
The decision comes as Reuters reports that pirate gang leaders have agreed to pay al-Shabaab insurgents, who profess loyalty to al-Qaeda 20% of all future ransoms. They also agreed to have hijacked ships anchor at the port town of Haradhere, pirates sources old the news service. “After negotiation we signed the 20 percent ransom share to Al Shabaab and they released our leaders today. Now our relationship with Al Shabaab has improved,” a pirate who identified himself as Ali told Reuters by phone from Haradhere overnight.
Reuters last week also reported piracy was evolving into a transnational, organised criminal network that risked becoming ingrained in the country’s economic and social structures. Donna L. Hopkins, coordinator of Counter Piracy and Maritime Security for the US government, said it had become apparent that other nationalities were hoping to reap the benefits of what has become an increasingly lucrative activity. Reuters has previously reported the arrest of pirates hailing from Kenya, Yemen and Ethiopia (which has no coast), in addition to Somalis. “Somali piracy has grown from being essentially a garden variety, local, off the coast protest against illegal fishing … into a seriously networked and capable, transnational, organised and criminal enterprise,” she said. “We think there are other fishermen, fishermen other than Somali nationality, who are colluding in this business and helping to share the spoils.”
Ransom payments have shot up over the last five years and now average around US$4.5 million to US$5 million per ship, from around US$150,000 to US$300,000 previously, according to Dieter Berg, head of the marine division at reinsurer Munich Re.
Norwegian shipping magnate Jacob Stolt-Nielsen last week added stronger measures were needed to deal with pirates, saying “The only way to put this business in decline is to hang them.” He expresses his frustration at what he claims is the international community’s half-hearted approach to piracy, as pirates are often captured and released but seldom tried successfully in international courts. For instance, on February 12, the Danish command ship HDMS Esbern Snare stopped a suspicious vessel with two skiffs on its deck. A boarding party found equipment used for pirating ships, including boarding ladders, automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades. 14 suspected pirates were arrested and two Yemeni hostages released, but the pirates were taken ashore and released as there was not enough evidence, despite all the equipment found, for a conviction in a Danish court. “The only language these pirates understand is force,” Stolt-Nielsen told the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN). “Sinking their ship will all hands aboard is the way to solve the problem.”
Experts say 2011 will be one of the worst years for piracy. Presently there are approximately 700 crew and 30 ships being held by pirates, with many of these being used as bargaining tools and human shields – it is common for pirates to bring hostages out on deck and beat them if a warship comes too close. Indeed, pirates are becoming increasingly violent and willing to retaliate against international naval forces. On January 26 an element of the international anti-piracy contingent unsuccessfully tried to free the crew of the captured Beluga Nomination, and killed a pirate in the process. In retaliation the pirates murdered a Filipino crewmember.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) last month warned that an “unacceptably high proportion of ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean” were not taking the threat of piracy seriously by heeding warnings or taking measures to protect their ships. In a circular letter to IMO members, the United Nations, intergovernmental, non-governmental and other organisations, the IMO said that naval forces off the coast of Somalia have observed many ships in area that are not registered with the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa; are not reporting to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Dubai; show no piracy deterrents and are not acting on warnings of pirate activity. At least 25% of commercial ships passing through the Gulf of Aden ignore safety precautions.
“NATO has taken to phoning up ships within 50 miles of a mothership sighting to warn them of the risk because ships are not reading the warnings they put out,” spokesman Colonel Richard Spence r said. “They are sailing blind,” he said. “There is a reason why some flags consistently have the highest number of ships taken. I’m speechless as to why some flag states are not doing more.” He said naval forces had “observed non-compliance” on the ships of the top four flag states, Liberia, Panama, Marshall Islands and Bahamas.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its annual report last month said pirates murdered eight seafarers and seized a record 1181 hostages as well 53 ships last year, a new lowpoint. According to the IMB, the number of pirate attacks on ships around the world has risen every year for the past four years, with 445 incidents in 2010, which is an increase of 10% over 2009. 1050 crewmembers were taken hostage in 2009 compared with just 188 crew in 2006. 293 incidents were reported in 2008 compared to 263 in 2007. The 2010 attacks included two confirmed cases of piracy in the Mozambique Channel between Africa and Madagascar near the Comoros in late December and two failed attempts some 200 kilometres east of Quelimane, capital of the central Mozambican province of Zambezia. The city is about halfway up the Mozambican coast and some 300km north of Beira.
