International cooperation
beats modern-day pirates
Paris, 24
November 1999 - Groundbreaking
international cooperation resulting in the recovery of a hijacked vessel and
its multi-million dollar cargo provides an encouraging blueprint for future
action by governments and the shipping industry to combat the ever-growing menace
of modern day pirates.
Captain Pottengal Mukundan,
Director of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB), praised the response
of the Indian authorities and various ships' crews who worked together to track
and recover the aluminium ingot-carrying freighter which was reported missing
shortly after leaving Indonesia en-route for Japan in late October.
The Indian navy boarded
the Panamian registered Alondra Rainbow last week after coastguards had shadowed
her for two days across the Arabian sea, and after warning shots had been fired
to force the pirates to heave to.
The IMB's Piracy Reporting
Centre, based in Kuala Lumpur, played a pivotal role in the recovery of the
hijacked ship, alerting governments, coastal authorities and ships to the hijackings
and subsequently coordinating the efforts to track the vessel.
"The Alondra Rainbow case
is a remarkable one because it is a perfect example of the unique role that
the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre can play in this particular crime by issuing
timely alerts to ships at sea.We were able to get masters of ships to
look out
for the vessel and to report back to us. And once we received information of
a number of sightings we were able to go to the Sri Lankan authorities and to
the Indian coastguards to tell them where to look for the ship," said Captain
Mukundan.
The director of IMB, a division
of the International Chamber of Commerce, said he hoped the Alondra Rainbow
case would encourage other governments to take similar action when piracy happens
in or around their waters.
"This problem is not one
which can be solved by law enforcement alone or by industry alone. It needs
cooperation and further to this, it needs the will of governments to act against
this heinous crime," he said. "It was fantastic to see the Indian authorities
act under the auspices of international law to intercept the ship," Captain
Mukundan added. Article 105 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea empowers
any state to seize a ship or aircraft taken by pirates.
The Alondra Rainbow, which
together with its cargo was valued at $16 million, was damaged when the Indian
navy was forced to open fire and when the pirates apparently attempted to scuttle
the ship. However, even accounting for damages and the 40% of the cargo which
had been offloaded by the pirates before the vessel's recovery, Captain Mukundan
said losses were still far less than had initially been feared. The ship's crew,
who were cast adrift on an open raft, are safe after being picked up by Thai
fisherman.
The 15 alleged hijackers
are currently being held by Indian police and are expected to be tried under
the Indian Penal Code and under international law. Authorities say the pirates
appear to have been well-organized and that a number of currencies and credit
cards were found on board.
Outrage in the shipping
industry at the alarming growth in piracy on the world's oceans prompted the
creation of the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre in 1992. The centre, whose services
are free of charge to all vessels irrespective of ownership or flag, acts a
help point for vessels attacked by pirates.
A round-the-clock watch
is maintained every day of the year and, in collaboration with law enforcement
agencies, the centre acts on reports of suspicious shipping movements, piracy
and armed robbery at sea anywhere in the world. As well as quarterly and annual
reports, the centre currently broadcasts daily status bulletins reporting pirate
attacks on shipping and is about to launch a weekly piracy status report on
the Internet.
IMB
piracy reporting centre