International maritime experts, diplomats and security officials will meet in Kuala Lumpur from today to map out ways to protect seafarers and the shipping industry from rampant piracy off Somalia’s coast.
Pottengal Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which monitors piracy worldwide, said aggressive measures were needed to fight pirates off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
“What we need is for the international community to take strong action to capture and board pirate ships at sea, board motherships and arrest the pirates and hand them over for prosecution,” he said.
“The long-term solution for Somalia is to have a shore-based accountable government which is stable, but we can’t wait for the long-term solution,” said Mukundan, who will address the event organized by Malaysia’s foreign ministry.
Experts at the two-day conference will tackle divisive issues including who should pay for anti-piracy operations and whether crews should be armed or mercenaries hired to guard ships.
There is also a debate over what to do with pirates arrested by the navies patrolling the troubled region and whether short-term security measures or longer-term development initiatives are the best way to curb high-seas crime.
Speakers included US naval officials, UN envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, Tim Wilkins from owners’ association INTERTANKO and Somali National Security Agency Deputy Director Nur Mohamed Mohamoud.
The delegates will adopt a statement tomorrow outlining possible solutions to eliminate the scourge that is disrupting one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
A country of 7 million people, Somalia has had no effective central authority since former president Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, setting off a bloody cycle of clashes between rival factions.
Pirate attacks off Somalia jumped tenfold in the first three months of this year compared with last year, jumping from six to 61, IMB data indicated.
Some of the pirates’ most spectacular successes came late last year when they seized a Ukrainian cargo ship loaded with combat tanks and other weaponry, as well as a Saudi supertanker carrying US$100 million in crude oil.
Somali piracy started two decades ago with more noble goals of deterring illegal fishing and protecting the nation’s resources and sovereignty at a time when the state was collapsing.
Today’s pirates have become a sophisticated criminal ring with international ramifications. Anti-piracy naval operations operating under US, EU and NATO commands patrol the region.
Some 20 foreign warships cruise Somalia’s coast on any given day in a partly successful effort to protect the trade route, but experts at the meeting will discuss a more comprehensive solution.
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