Somali Piracy

Somali Counter-piracy Operations Effective, Should Continue

UK House of Lords Select Committee states naval 'Operation Atalanta' has turned the tide on Somali pirates but should extend. The House of Lords EU Committee for External Affairs has praised the success of Operation Atalanta in curbing piracy off the Somali coast. However, they say that the operation must be extended beyond its current end date of December 2014 if it is to make a lasting difference in combating the threat. The Committee say that Operation Atalanta has made clear progress in reducing the number of ships pirated, with only 8 vessels and 215 hostages held in June 2012 compared to 23 vessels and 501 hostages in the same month in 2011. Nonetheless the report makes clear that it is vital this effort is extended beyond 2014 to show the EU will not walk away from confronting piracy in the Indian Ocean. Otherwise organisations and individuals that organise piracy will simply wait out the operation before returning to their previous activities. Other findings in the report include:     •    Somali piracy will never be completely eradicated until the root causes of the problems in the country are addressed. The Committee welcome EU efforts to increase aid to the country and say that aid should be focused on providing alternative livelihoods for the Somali people to reduce the incentives to engage in piracy.

Hellenic War Risks Club at 50; Reports $68.6m in Reserves

Piracy remains a major issue, especially for Greek owners, says the Club.   The Hellenic War Risks Club is celebrating its 50th year of operation in 2011. The Association’s founding Directors, which included J C Carras,  J E G Kulukundis, C M Lemos, D J Chandris and F P Lykiardopulo, recognised a need for Greek shipowners to come together on a mutual basis to provide the most competitive war risk insurance premiums, which, at the time, were difficult and expensive to obtain

U.S. Company Hired to Thwart Piracy

Somalia's government signed a deal with a US maritime security firm to fight rampant piracy in the waters off its unpatrolled coast, according to a report in the Taipei Times. Waters off the coast of Somalia are considered among the most dangerous in the world. Pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns earlier this month tried to board a US-owned cruise liner about 160km off the Somali coast. New York-based Topcat Marine Security Inc signed a deal worth more than $50

Philippine, British Governments Announce Support for SaveOurSeafarers

Seafarers’ organisations, shipping companies together with business leaders and the biggest ever grouping of shipping industry associations, which have joined forces to campaign against Somali piracy, have received a welcome boost from the British and Philippine Governments confirming their support for the global  SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign.   In the UK,  correspondence between members of the SOS campaign and the British MP Henry Billingham, Minister for Africa, the UN

CEOs Targeted by Anti-Piracy Campaign

www.SaveOurSeafarers.com (SOS), the international anti-piracy initiative backed by 30 of the world’s largest maritime organisations, is to lobby support from business leaders to increase international pressure on Governments to take firmer action against Somali piracy.   This violence and hostage-taking is costing the world economy an estimated $12 billion a year. SOS SaveOurSeafarers Campaign Chair Giles Heimann

Somali Counter-piracy Offensive Paying Off

Piracy off the Somali Coast falls to lowest levels in years as result of tough measures on land & at sea. As Kenyan Defense Forces continue to weaken Al-Shabaab on the ground in Somalia, new reports indicates Somali pirates off the coast have similarly been weakened this year. According to the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center, “The number of ships signaling attacks by Somali pirates has fallen this year [2012] to its lowest since 2009

Spanish Warship Joins EUNAVFOR Anti-piracy Fleet

ESPS INFANTA ELENA, a Descubierta class corvette, joins the EUNAVFOR operation ATALANTA against piracy ESPS INFANTA ELENA, commissioned into the Spanish Navy in April 1980 is a patrol ship of 1200 tonnes. The Spanish ship joins OP ATALANTA operations with the mission to protect vulnerable shipping and World Food Programme vessels, in addition to deterrence and disruption of piracy in the Somali Basin and Horn of Africa

SOS Welcomes Robust EU Action on Somali Coast

The SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign welcomes the extension of the EU counter- piracy operation until end 2014, and the  EU decision to broaden the scope of its naval operation in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean  by extending the naval forces’ area of operations to include Somali coastal territory which allows it to take more robust action on the Somali coast.   This is a bold step towards the goal that the shipping industry and its seafarers embrace - that of seeing

Piracy – Russian Navy to Send Task Force to Gulf of Aden

Russia to send new anti-piracy force for patrols off the Somali coast A task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet, led by the Udaloy class destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov, is to depart on an new anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast, the fleet’s spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga said. The destroyer is currently on a training mission in the Barents Sea as part of the preparations for the upcoming tour-of-duty in the Gulf of Aden.

Piracy Off the Horn of Africa

Remarks by Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, given to the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC (March 27, 2012).   Thank you for inviting me here today. I want to thank the Center for American Progress [CAP] for having me here to speak on the important subject of piracy off the Horn of Africa. CAP is a tremendous leader in developing new ideas and in approaching issues in new ways