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ReCAAP Council approves MoU with BIMCO |
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 |
 Notable developments addressed during the Fourth Annual Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC Governing Council in Singapore from 9 to 11 March 2010 included the Governors’ agreement to the signing of an MoU on Co-operation with BIMCO as well as the ReCAAP ISC’s role in the recent successful recovery of the hijacked tug ASTA3 and her crew.
Industry collaboration
Representatives from the industry organisations who attended the meeting
made a joint statement expressing their continued support for the
ReCAAP initiative, and reiterating their desire to partner and
collaborate with the ReCAAP ISC.
In respect to MoUs, in addition to the agreement to the signing of an
MoU on Co-operation between BIMCO and the ReCAAP ISC, the Council also
agreed to the signing of an MoU between the Asian Shipowners' Forum
(ASF) and the ReCAAP ISC. Both MoUs record the mutual understanding on
joint co-operation in the area of information exchange and mutual
support.
The BIMCO/ReCAAP MoU will be signed by BIMCO Secretary General Torben
Skaanild and ReCAAP ISC Executive Director Mr. Yoshihisa Endo on 29
April 2010 during Singapore Maritime Week.
BIMCO’s Asia Liaison Officer Thomas Timlen pointed out that the
BIMCO/ReCAAP MoU would serve well to foster a continuing constructive
dialogue and collaboration which began in 2006. By working together,
BIMCO and the ReCAAP ISC have mutually supported a number of workshops
and conferences and produced the guide “Tips on avoiding Piracy, Robbery
and Theft,” a quick reference for seafarers highlighting practical
preventive measures. Common to all these efforts is the promotion of IMO
guidance relating to piracy and armed robbery and the Best Management
Practices (BMP) amongst all stakeholders.
The Council is unanimous in urging ship masters to immediately report
incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships to the relevant
authorities, to enable a more effective response and encourage
multi-channel reporting, as advocated by the IMO MSC Circ. 1333 and
/1334.
The ASTA3 incident
The Council was especially encouraged to note the successful outcome of
the recent incident involving the tug boat ASTA3 which demonstrated the
significance of the ReCAAP network’s timely sharing of information with
law enforcement agencies and shipping community, and good inter-ministry
cooperation among the governmental agencies within the respective
countries that led to the rescue of the crew, the recovery of the
hijacked vessel and arrest of the robbers.
Upcoming Piracy Conference
The Council looked forward to a successful ReCAAP ISC Piracy and Sea
Robbery Conference 2010, co-organised with BIMCO, on 29 April 2010 in
Singapore, with the main objective of engaging the shipping community.
A growing initiative
The Governors from the fifteen ReCAAP countries commended the ReCAAP ISC
on achieving further milestones in research and analysis, capacity
building, and engagement and co-operation with other organisations with
an interest in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships.
The Council welcomed Kingdom of Norway, which was represented by its
Governor at the ReCAAP ISC Governing Council Meeting for the first time
since becoming a member of the ReCAAP on 29 August 2009.
The Council noted with appreciation the update from The Netherlands on
the completion of its accession process to the ReCAAP, and welcomed the
announcement that the Depository had received a formal notification from
the Kingdom of Denmark of its intent to accede to the ReCAAP.
This latest development highlights the growing strength of ReCAAP's
credibility and demonstrates the understanding that international
cooperation is necessary to effectively deal with the problems of piracy
and armed robbery.
The Council once again welcomed external participants to attend part of
its deliberation, including for the first time, the Commonwealth of
Australia.
Encouraging trends
The Council was pleased to note the release of the ReCAAP ISC’s third
annual research report, containing its findings on piracy and armed
robbery against ships in Asia in 2009. In particular, the Council noted
the finding that the piracy and armed robbery situation in Asia had
stabilised in 2009.
The Council further noted that although there was a marginal
year-on-year increase of 5% for the overall number of incidents, the
number of actual incidents had in fact fallen from 83 in 2008 to 81 in
2009.
The increase in overall incidents was attributed to an increase in
unsuccessful attempts at piracy and armed robbery, demonstrating the
willingness of the shipping community to report incidents to prevent
further acts of piracy and sea robbery against their fellow seafarers.
ReCAAP’s international footprint
In the area of capacity building, the Council welcomed the successful
conduct of the third ReCAAP ISC capacity building activity held outside
Singapore, co-hosted with the Philippine Coast Guard in Manila in
November 2009.
The Council reiterated its concern over the continuing piracy situation
in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.
The Council commended the concretisation of the ReCAAP ISC's Agreement
of Cooperation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in
the form of the ReCAAP ISC's contributions towards the implementation of
the Djibouti Code of Conduct.
This included the participation of representatives from Djibouti Code
countries in a ReCAAP ISC familiarisation programme in Singapore,
followed by the Manila capacity building workshop, in November 2009.
A new Executive Director
The Council expressed appreciation to the outgoing Executive Director –
Mr. Yoshiaki Ito, for successfully steering the ReCAAP ISC through its
initial three years of operation. With effect from 1 April 2010, Mr.
Yoshihisa Endo will be appointed as the Executive Director of the ReCAAP
ISC.
The Council reiterated the importance of the ReCAAP ISC being the
conduit between the law enforcement agencies and the shipping agencies,
called for greater cooperation among the like-minded agencies in
suppressing piracy and armed robbery against ships, and having ReCAAP
ISC to continue to work with the IMO in their efforts to implement the
Djibouti Code of Conduct to suppress piracy in the Gulf of Aden and
Western Indian Ocean.
The 5th Annual Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC Governing Council is scheduled
for week of 28 February to 4 March 2011 to be held in Singapore.
The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery
against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) is the first regional
government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation
against piracy and armed robbery in Asia. It was finalised on 11
November 2004 and entered into force on 4 September 2006. To date, 15
States have become Contracting Parties to ReCAAP.
Source: Bimco
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