Law Enforcement Capacity News

As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline.No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage, Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said in an audio message to the ship's owners."By the grace of Allah no one has been harmed so far," Khan said in the message, recorded before the pirates took the crew's phones.

Maritime forces from East Africa, West Indian Ocean nations, Europe and the United States, as well as several international organizations, will begin the sixth iteration of the annual multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express, Jan. 31. Cutlass Express 2017, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and conducted by U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF), is designed to assess and improve combined maritime law enforcement capacity and promote national and regional security in East Africa, inform planning and operations. • Cutlass Express 2017 (CE17) will test participating nations’ ability to respond to illicit trafficking, piracy, illegal fishing, and search and rescue situations.

Increasingly assertive action by China's coast guard ships in the South China Sea risks destabilising the region, according to the authors of new research tracking maritime law enforcement incidents across the vital trade route. While the risks of full-blown naval conflict dominates strategic fears over the disputed waterway, the danger of incidents involving coast guards should not be underestimated, said Bonnie Glaser, a regional security expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

The commitment of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia through boosting capacity building in the region has been underlined with the signing of five strategic partnerships with a number of UN agencies and the EU, following a Conference on Capacity Building to Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, held at IMO Headquarters in London on 15 May 2012. The Conference was attended by some 300 delegates from member States as well as a number of organizations.