Having military personnel aboard ships would help combat piracy in the Indian Ocean, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee said after an Italian oil tanker was seized by Somali pirates on Tuesday.
Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola added, however, that it was up to individual states, rather than the alliance as a whole, to decide whether to put soldiers on merchant vessels. ”The presence of military units on board is one of the possibilities, which however must be decided by the individual nations and ship owners,” Di Paola told ANSA.
”NATO believes that this measure would be of help, should it be adopted”. The admiral said that the question of military personnel escorts raised ”delicate” issues, such as those regarding possible casualties in clashes with pirates, ”that make us think that each single nation should decide for itself”.
The Italian ship, the Savina Caylyn, continued to head towards Somalia on Wednesday after pirates attacked it some 670 miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra, about 500 miles off the coast of India and 800 miles from the Somali coast.
The medium-sized ship, with an estimated cargo value of about $60 million, was sailing from Sudan to Malaysia.
None of the 22-strong crew of 17 Indians and five Italians was hurt in the attack on the tanker, which is owned by the Fratelli D’Amato shipping line, based in Naples.
Pirates based in Somalia, which has been without any real central government for two decades, have seized dozens of ships in the last few years and have added billions of dollars to the costs of shipping through the Indian Ocean.
Di Paola said combating piracy in the area was complicated by problems concerning international jurisdiction if, for example, Somali pirates use vessels registered in other countries for their attacks.
”Many parties are calling for a United Nations tribunal. A shared legal framework would be better for everybody,” he said.
”At the moment, everyone has to fend for themselves”.
There are also issues regarding the rules of engagement.
A NATO ship that is part of the Ocean Shield operation is motoring the Italian ship’s movements, but the mission’s rules of engagement do not provide any means to stop it.
”We are carrying out a strategic review to see whether we should keep on going as things are or change something (in the mission),” Di Paola commented.
The admiral pointed out that NATO confirmed its commitment to fighting piracy at the Lisbon summit last November and with good reason. ”Piracy is one of the most serious threats to both local and international security,” he said.
”By now the phenomenon is spreading across the entire Indian Ocean, a fundamental crossroads for world traffic. ”To counter it, we need action on various levels, both at sea and on the ground”. Among the measures needed, he said, are a major international effort to rebuild Somalia as a sovereign state and a task force to fight piracy at the regional level. At the moment though, there is only action at sea, with all the difficulties and limitations involved, given the size of the Indian Ocean and the number of ships the mission can count on. Nevertheless, the effort is still worthwhile, Di Paola said.
”If the EU, NATO and other countries did not act at sea, then we would be seeing at least 100-150 ships seized instead of 28”.