Transcript Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas

INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
PRESENTED BY
CAPT. SHYAM JAIRAM
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
HISTORY OF PIRACY
 Pirates have existed and terrorized shipping from the very earliest days of
seafaring history
 Piracy was a common thing during the Ancient Greek and the Ancient Roman
age.
 Oldest Evidence of Piracy dates back to 1350 (BC) at the time of Pharo
Echnation
 Famous Roman Leader Julius Caesar was also captured by pirates and later
set free
 Piracy began in the Mediterranean Sea and then in North Europe
 Pirates of the Mediterranean were called “CORSAIRS” while those of North
Europe were called “VIKINGS”
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
HISTORY OF PIRACY
 Piracy was a symbol of Adventure, Danger and
Fame
 A path of life chosen by the brave hearted..
Since Life in the open sea was no place for the
weak
 It meant total Freedom
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
RISE AND FALL OF PIRACY
The Ancient Fall
Piracy in the 16th & 17th centuries fell into decline for four primary reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Technology
Increased Naval Presence
Increased Government Administration
Uniform Regulation
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
The Modern Rise of Piracy
Following World War II however, with these four self enforcing
barriers to high seas, piracy began to erode.
. The SAME four factors have now actually begun to encourage Piracy.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Technology
Naval Presence (Reduced)
Disrupted Government Administration
Lack of Regulation
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
HERE IS THE DEADLY MODERN REALITY
FOR THE YEAR 2008 ALONE








100
73
142
11
350
06
07
07
HIJACK ATTEMPTS
VESSELS BOARDED
VESSELS HIJACKED
VESSELS FIRED AT
CREW TAKEN HOSTAGE
CREW KIDNAPPED
CREW KILLED
MISSING – PRESUMED DEAD
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
DEADLY MODERN REALITY
 Gone from the pirate's shoulder is that comical parrot :
to make room for a rocket propelled grenade launcher, an A.K.47, an M-16 rifle or an Uzi machine gun.
 Piracy and marine fraud is a US$16 billion industry on the rise.
 If piracy were a stock, it would have traded well above
Mircosoft on world exchanges for the Year 2007.
 Who could have imagined that a 17th Century concept could
out pace "techno-growth."
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
According to the International Maritime Bureau the definition is:
 "Piracy is the act of boarding any vessel with an intent to commit theft
or any other crime, and with an intent or capacity to use force in
furtherance of that act.“
In order to distinguish it from simple Hijacking, a piracy crime requires that :
 Two vessels are involved in the incident.
 The second requirement is that the crime has been undertaken for private,
not political purposes.
These can be important considerations when determining coverage under a
policy of marine cargo insurance.
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
WHERE IS PIRACY
So where are the international danger areas?
Piracy is often referred to as a "movable crime" because new hot spots
tend to pop up all the time while other locations return to relative
peace.
Let us see the Piracy Prone Areas as per
ICC Commercial Crime Services
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
LIVE MAP SHOWING PLACES OF PIRACY
This map shows all the piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to
the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre during 2008.
Live Piracy Map
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STRAIT OF MALACCA
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GULF OF ADEN
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
GULF OF ADEN
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
TYPES OF PIRATES
There are generally three categories of pirates:
 Standard issue low-life criminal
 Sophisticated organized crime group
 Semi-Official Military Pirate (and perhaps the most
troubling type )
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
TYPES OF PIRATE ATTACKS
There are essentially three types of pirate attacks.
 Pirates board the merchant vessel, rob the crew and escape
 Pirates not only rob the crew but steal the cargo (more ambitious &
sophisticated )
 Pirate attack is used to create a "Phantom Ship." This is the most
sophisticated version of the crime, where pirates take literally
everything including the merchant vessel itself
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
EFFECTS OF PIRACY ON TRADE
Awaiting Environment Disaster
What if a vessel carrying millions of gallons of oil or Liquefied Natural Gas
is fired at / or collides, sunk or is run aground.
A Fully loaded Tanker when used by the Pirates to attack, is like an
environmental disaster of epic proportion, just waiting to happen….
A foreign Power could manipulate pirates to undertake a mission of
destruction of a port and its city, when a gas tanker is entering the port.
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
EFFECTS OF PIRACY ON TRADE
 Increase in Insurance Premiums
 Additional Cost due to damage
 Cost of Ransom
 Increase in Transit Time
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INDUSTRY MARITIME SEMINAR 2008
Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
EFFECTS OF PIRACY IN THE GULF OF ADEN
 16,000 ships and around 30 percent of the world's oil transit each
year.
 The World Food Program in Jeopardy
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
THERE'S MORE PIRACY THAN YOU THINK
 Problem of under-reporting. Only 10 % reported
 Collusion of Authorities and penetrations by pirates
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ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES
Things on board that can be converted into a weapon to thwart a pirate attack
This said, an effective brace of merchant weapons are :
 the fire hose,
 flare gun and
 ship's horn.
Used together, an alert crew can startle, blind and hose a pirate group
off the deck before an attack takes hold.
The key here is robbing pirates of their chief weapon; the element of
surprise.
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES
Diligence and better practices are starting to make a difference:
 Substitutes are being found for carrying cash in the ship's safe;
 24 hour radio watches;
 Pre-charged fire hoses at the ready;
 Anti-pirate watches have accounted for dozens of repelled attacks
this year alone
 Combined Patrolling by Naval crafts
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES
On the technology side
 Purplefinder Guard Discreet Surveillance and Alarm System (DSAS).
 Transas’ monitoring centre
 Electric Fences
 Acoustic Barriers / Motion Sensors
 Ship Lock / Sea Jack alarm
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
United Nations Conventions / Resolutions
 UNCLOS -1982
 SUA Convention 1988
 Resolution 1816 – June 2008
 Resolution 1838 – Oct. 2008
 Resolution 1846 – Dec 2008
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
Conclusion
All this said –
Whatever the gun, gimmick, or governance, it seems clear that increased public and
Government awareness of modern high sea piracy is going to be required before this
deadly trend is truly reversed.
I want to leave you with a recent statement on this subject by Eric Ellen of the IMB:
 "Even where the shoot 'em up TV News is concerned, any highjacked plane
whatsoever is considered big news, but when a ship is taken forever, and its
crew murdered; no one seems to care."
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Piracy and Hijacking on High Seas
Thank you for your attention
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