SOS SaveOurSeafarers, a high profile, shipping industry anti- piracy campaign is taking its message to celluloid with the launch of a short video highlighting the human and economic cost of Somali piracy.
The six-minute video was launched this week at the Safety4Seainternational maritime security conference in Athens and highlights the significant threat of Somali piracy attacks for the worldwide seafarer community and potentially for world trade itself. The video, which is also being posted on YouTube, uses a mixture of hard-hitting real life interviews, and the latest technology to create a “Hollywood style” action sequence where a ship is captured and hostages taken. This is followed by some hard-hitting thoughts from a former hostage, from the EUNAVFOR Chief of Staff, and from a member of the SOS Steering Group.
Commenting on the launch of the video, Bill Box from SaveOurSeafarers, said: “Whilst recent incidents such as the high-profile kidnappings of Judith Tebutt and Marie Dedieu have put the issue in the headlines, these two incidents barely scrape the surface of this ongoing crisis. “Seafarers have been constantly under threat from Somali pirates for the last five years, with at times more than 800 innocent seafarers being held hostage for months on end in appalling conditions and facing mental and physical torture at the hands of their captors. Piracy costs the global economy as much as £12billion a year and continues to threaten key transport routes through the Indian Ocean.”
“The aim of our video is to take the campaign message to a wider audience and to gain support outside as well as inside the maritime industry, calling for more determined government action against Somali piracy.” The campaign, launched in March this year, is made up of the largest ever grouping of international seafarers’ organisations, shipping companies and shipping industry associations. It has already received backing from the British, Philippine and Georgian governments and has seen support from 180 countries. Full information on the campaign and the video can be found at www.saveourseafarers.com
The video can also be viewed by the following direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLqwVpPALz0&feature=channel_video_title