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Poverty, Hypocrisy and Armada are not the Lyses for the Piracy Drama |
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Saturday, 28 February 2009 |
 Among the achievements of the 21st century was the revival of the phenomenon of piracy. The media apart from the weather report have also the Terrorists Report, multinational companies’ and banks’ bankruptcy report due to the world economical crisis and the piracy report. This is very useful because one becomes aware of the bulkers seized, the number of tankers that have been released, the
number of months under captivity by the Somalia pirates and the amount
of the ransom payment.
In 2007 the IMB (international maritime bureau) recorded 263 piracy
cases and armed attacks. In 2008 according to United Nations Somali
pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships resulting in a yield
of about $150 million. This allows for various interpretations, but we
shall focus at present in the damage that piracy caused in the safety
of the seas and the progress of the seaborne trade, keeping in mind
that the Somalia coast is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the
world with a great number of ships, which make their way to and from
the Suez Canal. The same also applies for the nearby area of the Gulf
of Aden where 20 000 ships are passing through each year.
Various methods have applied so far in order to solve the piracy
problem like the development of safety lanes, the escort of war ships,
but they seems impractical and cost for such great traffic. More than
10 nations with their war ships are now patrolling the area but the
officials have long said that they cannot stop piracy only
with war ships alone as more assistance is needed.
The whole thing seems more complicated and a deeper analysis is required.
Since the ancient times the phenomenon of piracy appeared where the
economic development, the political stability and justice in a ruled
state were replaced by poverty, lack of education and ataxia.
Around 40% of the Somali population depends from the United Nations
food programs. The country doesn’t possess a navy to safeguard its
coasts and the last 15 years they have to deal with political
instability. A similar situation also exists in the nearby countries,
most of which are in conflicts and civil wars for many years.
So the therapy is simple. Instead of spending a lot of money to keep
their war ships down there for patrolling purposes, the super powers
should dispose these money as assistance for the economic development
of the said state.
If the Somalis have jobs and a real state, they would not harm themselves by engaging
in hijacks in the open seas. If a Somali navy existed, it would stop the pirates there and the world armada wouldn’t be needed.
Another issue that has been raised recently is the question of
jurisdiction for bringing the suspected pirates to justice, since
they’re acting in international waters. In this case we would propose
that if from the first examination there is solid good evidence that
the suspected pirates have attacked a specific vessel, then the rule of
the innocent party should apply. This means that if the subject vessel
has Hellenic flag then the said pirates should be extradited to Hellas
and the Hellenic law should apply. In this point I would say that in
order to have a uniform legislation by all countries, IMO should
coordinate that.
The phenomenon of piracy is a reality and exists in many areas of the
world thus it is required to be attended carefully by the authorities.
In this respect I would propose the use of an index under the code name
“Spira Index (SEA PIRACY INDEX) = NUMBER OF ATTACKS
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On that way we would be able to see the trends of the piracy
PIRACY SCALE
NUMBER OF ATTACKS
0 - 1 (WHITE ALARM)
2- 10 (GREEN ALARM)
11- 20 (YELLOW ALARM)
21- OVER (RED ALARM)
The gathering of warships in this strategic area of Somalia will not
solve the drama of piracy. On the other hand it reveals the shame and
the hypocrisy of our civilization and there is the possibility of
provoking a naval battle between the countries involved.
The phenomenon of piracy today is also an alarm for all of us which
means that the rich countries have no other choice, except to extend
their hand and help the poor countries like Somalia and others where
the piracy drama is on stage.
Idomeneas A. Sarris Msc
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