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India Ocean tension escalates :
Navies, pirates take off gloves
Kenya: The response to Somali piracy had so far seen a relatively
codified game of cat-and-mouse play out on the Indian Ocean but experts
fear a dangerous escalation is under way.
After pirate attacks surged four years ago, naval missions deployed
under European, US and NATO flags fanned out across the commercially
crucial Gulf of Aden but piracy morphed and grew around the obstacle.
Now Somalia’s sea bandits hold some 40 vessels and 700 seafarers to
ransom but observers fear the international community is still shunning
more holistic remedies and simply doubling the dose of gunpowder.
“You cannot just send more warships... Simply increasing the volume
and the tone will not ensure sustainable success,” said Michael Frodl,
founder and head of C-level maritime risks consultancy.
While deadly incidents did occur in previous years, the scenario was
well rehearsed and unwritten rules appeared to prevent an escalation.
But navies have in recent weeks appeared to adopt a more muscular
approach.
Warships have in particular targeted mother ships — previously
hijacked vessels on which the pirates can take shelter before launching
their attack skiffs — retaking or disabling close to 10 in barely a
month. “Things are changing and the situation is not good these days,”
Abdi Yare, a top pirate commander in Hobyo told AFP.
“Allied forces thwarted several hijacking attempts and dozens of
pirates have been arrested while several were also killed in the past
few weeks. The circumstances will lead us to change our tactics again,”
he said.
Ecoterra International, an environmental and human rights NGO
monitoring maritime activity in the region, deplored the rise of
aggressive operations. “The main game-changer is a willingness to chose
attacking hostage ships, as manifested in the case of the Beluga
Nomination,” against which failed raids by the Seychelles and NATO left
three crewmen dead, Ecoterra told AFP.
One sequence could also prove a turning point: on April 15, the
pirates released the MT Asphalt Venture, an Indian-operated tanker, for
a ransom of 3.5 million dollars but kept seven Indian crew members. They
want to swap the hostages with around 120 suspected Somali pirates
captured by the Indian navy. “India has become public enemy number one
for the pirates,” said Frodl, a US-based lawyer who also advises
underwriters associated with Lloyd’s of London.
Nairobi, Sunday, AFP |
