Media outlets are often chomping at the bit when it comes to attempted attacks or hostage crises by pirates. The recent release of the film, Captain Phillips, based on actual events, is a clear sign that piracy attracts huge levels of interest (it cannot just be Tom Hanks that pulls in the box office dosh!). Indeed, last year this publication carried its own short piece on the dangers of piracy for the pure reasons of relevance to the Specialised Products market place. This is still very much the case but almost a year on, we ask an entirely different question: Has the threat diminished?
This year there has been a clear change of impetus in the most notorious of world piracy hotspots: Somalia. According to an IMB report released earlier this month there have only been 10 recorded incidents in the first nine months of 2013 compared to 70 in the same period of 2012. In fact, worldwide piracy figures show there have been 188 incidents in the first nine months of 2013, down from 233 in 2012. The number of hostages being held has also decreased to 266 compared with 458 in the first three quarters of 2012. Whilst there have been 10 vessels hijacked, 17 have been fired upon and 140 have been boarded. These figures are still high and cannot be ignored but they do paint a picture of a diminished threat. But it is important not to become complacent. There is little doubt that the fall in attacks from Somali based pirates is down to coordinated naval power, the use of PMSCs, employment of the best management practices and a stabilising influence in the shape of a central autonomous government. The multifaceted approach to deterring or preventing attacks has clearly been a success on what is a strategic hotspot for politics and world trade.
However, we must not grow complacent. Piracy is still a huge problem for all stake holders in shipping. With the falling threat from one area another hotspot appears in the shape of West Africa. Attacks have increased at quite a rate in the Gulf of Guinea with it accounting for all crew kidnappings worldwide, 32 of Nigeria and two off Togo, plus seven vessels hijacked (six of which were tankers). The difference here is that attacks are often much more violent with perpetrators, often heavily armed, targeting vessels along the coast, rivers, anchorages, ports and surrounding waters. Often West African pirates ransack vessels and steal cargo instead of trying to take the whole vessel at once. Perhaps the most important thing to take away from here is that whilst the figures may tell one story the reality is somewhat different. Like the Gulf of Aden, the Nigerian and Benin navies have had some affect in stemming the violence but it is someway from the concerted effort seen in the east. Also we cannot write the threat from Somalia off completely there is every chance that piracy here could regain its former mantel, particularly as the monsoon season in the North West Indian Ocean is over allowing skiffs to operate once again.
At the end of the day, owners and charterers must continue to work together and use all of the protection and cautionary measures available to them. In short, the situation is best described in the old idiom of its “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”.
This year there has been a clear change of impetus in the most notorious of world piracy hotspots: Somalia. According to an IMB report released earlier this month there have only been 10 recorded incidents in the first nine months of 2013 compared to 70 in the same period of 2012. In fact, worldwide piracy figures show there have been 188 incidents in the first nine months of 2013, down from 233 in 2012. The number of hostages being held has also decreased to 266 compared with 458 in the first three quarters of 2012. Whilst there have been 10 vessels hijacked, 17 have been fired upon and 140 have been boarded. These figures are still high and cannot be ignored but they do paint a picture of a diminished threat. But it is important not to become complacent. There is little doubt that the fall in attacks from Somali based pirates is down to coordinated naval power, the use of PMSCs, employment of the best management practices and a stabilising influence in the shape of a central autonomous government. The multifaceted approach to deterring or preventing attacks has clearly been a success on what is a strategic hotspot for politics and world trade.
However, we must not grow complacent. Piracy is still a huge problem for all stake holders in shipping. With the falling threat from one area another hotspot appears in the shape of West Africa. Attacks have increased at quite a rate in the Gulf of Guinea with it accounting for all crew kidnappings worldwide, 32 of Nigeria and two off Togo, plus seven vessels hijacked (six of which were tankers). The difference here is that attacks are often much more violent with perpetrators, often heavily armed, targeting vessels along the coast, rivers, anchorages, ports and surrounding waters. Often West African pirates ransack vessels and steal cargo instead of trying to take the whole vessel at once. Perhaps the most important thing to take away from here is that whilst the figures may tell one story the reality is somewhat different. Like the Gulf of Aden, the Nigerian and Benin navies have had some affect in stemming the violence but it is someway from the concerted effort seen in the east. Also we cannot write the threat from Somalia off completely there is every chance that piracy here could regain its former mantel, particularly as the monsoon season in the North West Indian Ocean is over allowing skiffs to operate once again.
At the end of the day, owners and charterers must continue to work together and use all of the protection and cautionary measures available to them. In short, the situation is best described in the old idiom of its “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”.