Global Maritime Security: June 2015

Summary of Piracy Incidents:

1. 08.06.15 – (Position: 19°49’S - 034°50’E, Beira Port, Mozambique) Boarded. Three robbers, armed with knives, approached a berthed General Cargo ship in their small wooden boat. One of the robbers managed to board the ship and cut off a mooring rope. The duty crew tried to approach the robbers, but he was threatened with the knife. The alarm was raised and the crew mustered. Seeing the crew respond, the robbers escaped with the ship’s stores. The Port Control was informed.

2. 15.06.15 – (Position: 24°36’N - 057°47’E, Gulf of Oman) Suspicious Approach. An MV reported that two white hulled skiffs, each with two engines, approached at high speed. One of the skiffs with two people on board closed to 1nm on the port side, the other skiff with five people on board approached to within 500m on the starboard side. The armed security team fired one warning shot at the skiff on the starboard side. Following this, both skiffs stopped their approach. No weapons or ladders were sighted. The vessel and crew are safe.

3. 20.06.15 – (Position: 21°47’N - 060° 00’E, coast of Oman) Suspicious Approach. An MV reported being followed by 4 skiffs. The on-board armed guards showed their weapons, after the four skiffs neared to within 5 cables. Shortly after, a further six pale-coloured skiffs, with approximately three persons on-board, were observed ahead of the MV, forming a line. These skiffs passed the port side at speed, to within five cables, at which the AST showed their weapons for a second time. The skiffs then stopped in the water. No piracy equipment was spotted and the MV crew remained safe.

4. 27.06.15 – (Position: 04°02’ S - 039°38’E, Shimanzi Oil Terminal, Mombasa, Kenya) Boarded. Robbers armed with long knives, boarded a tanker, from a boat using a hook and line. They were spotted by a duty crew, who alerted the C/O. The alarm was raised and the crew notified. The robbers proceeded to steal mooring ropes and escaped. The incident was reported to Port Control and the local agent.

Incidents this Month

The number of incidents this month is few, due to the onset of the South-West Monsoon, which starts at the beginning of June. It starts in the southern Indian Ocean and moves northwards towards the Horn of Africa. Once it has become fully established over the Somalia Basin and the North Arabian Sea, monsoon conditions persist throughout most of June and August. Winds can get up to 23-28 knots, with gusts of 35 knots. It is not uncommon to see waves of between 7-8 metres. Strong winds and high waves create a non-permissive operating environment for small crafts, hence the small number of incidents.

In the past, this has meant that shipping companies have become complacent about security, assuming that an attack is not possible. However, this month, the Kenyan Government has repatriated around seventy eight Somali pirates, who have served their jail sentences leaving only one hundred and sixty convicted pirates remaining in Kenyan prisons. This also comes at a time when support for anti-piracy initiatives and prosecution has hit an all-time low, with some suggesting that security will not be needed in the future. Security experts warn that this is a dangerous move and that the newly returned pirates will return to their trade, if the patrolling situation and the use of armed guards, was to diminish. The security situation in the region is far from stable, with attacks by al-Shabaab continuing with gusto in the capital Mogadishu. These include attacks near to foreign Embassies and on foreign convoys. Furthermore, African Union peacekeeping troops have had to withdraw from three bases outside Mogadishu, after Al Shabaab attacked one of the bases at Lego, which is 90 kilometres from the capital. In this attack, some sixty Burundian troops were killed.

Seychelles

June has seen the beginning of the first piracy and maritime court cases to be held at the newly established courts in the Seychelles. The first cases to be heard, concerned the trial of five suspected Somali pirates who were arrested after they were accused of attacking an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden back in January 2014. They were arrested the next day by the French naval ship, FS Siroco. The Seychelles has completed sixteen piracy trails over the last few years and this is more than any other country in the region. It is hoped that the new court will make it easier to prosecute suspected pirates, as this has become an area which needs improving, in order to deter future pirates.