The UAE’s second anti-piracy conference to be held in Dubai on 27 -28 June has generated overwhelming interest globally and regionally with scores of high-ranking government ministers, industry leaders, security experts, the United Nations, the International Maritime Organisation, and other stakeholders from around the world expected to attend the event.

The International Conference, to be held under the title A Regional Response to Maritime Piracy: Enhancing Public-Private Partnerships and Strengthening Global Engagement, will build on current global efforts to address the challenges of pirate attacks on ships, including its devastating human cost in terms of seamen taken hostage, and ways to enhance efforts to mitigate the root causes that have led to piracy in Somalia and other places.

A conference website has been updated and opened to provide all necessary information for invitees and other participants to register online for the conference. The website will also carry bespoke research articles and working papers that have been commissioned from seasoned academics, invited speakers and experts in the field of counter-piracy, in order to stimulate discussion and generate policy ideas on combating piracy, in preparation of the high-level event in Dubai.

This second international conference will build on the success of the UAE’s initiative last year, which resulted in an unprecedented commitment from both government and industry leaders from around the world to work towards taking concrete steps to battle piracy, both on and off shore.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), as many as 43 pirate attacks were carried out by Somali pirates alone in the first quarter of 2012, and over 140 seafarers continue to be held in captivity, many in appalling conditions. The annual financial cost to global trade is estimated at up to $12bn by IMB.