Ships may give piracy-prone routes a wide berth

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Dec 2009

The economic impact of piracy in the Gulf of Aden continue to hit East African region for the second year running, pushing up the cost of living significantly and robbing the region’s commodities’ competitiveness in the global markets. This is despite concerted efforts from the international community to combat the vice, including the large military presence in high-risk areas.
Business Daily can now report that a section of shipping lines are contemplating more stringent deterrent measures to protect their vessels and crew against piracy, a move experts believe would definitely hit the region’s economy.
According to ship owners’ representatives in the country, some big liners  are contemplating giving Mombasa and other affected ports a wide berth by dropping cargo destined for those ports at other strategic harbours.
This means that shippers would have to pay twice for a single voyage.
“This year was a very challenging one for ship owners. We saw some of them ground their vessels because of the global economic meltdown and piracy, among other factors. Towards the end of the year we had reports that some carriers are now opting to drop cargo in other ports due to piracy.
“This is a trend we expect to continue next year if piracy persists. You know I am not authorised to mention names ( of the vessels),” said Kenya Ships Agents Association executive officer, Captain Fredrick Wahutu.
Experts warn that if the trend continues up to mid next year, European liners would have no option but to drop cargo at the Durban port in South Africa.
“These vessels would come from Europe through the Atlantic Ocean route and drop cargo at Durban, which means that shippers would have to pay twice for a single voyage. It would be a very expensive affair,” said Captain Wahutu.   
This anticipated move shows that ship owners have no confidence in current efforts by the global community to combat piracy along the Somali waters.
The global community this year continued to pay for a large military presence in high-risk areas, although the move is yet to yield fruits— with the attacks continuing to surge.
“From the figures we have, it is true that piracy activities along the Gulf of Eden have continued to flourish despite concerted efforts by the global community to fight it. In fact, going by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) statistics, the incidents recorded this year have surpassed those of last year,” said Seafarer Assistant Programme (SAP) co-ordinator, Mr Andrew Mwangura.
According to IMB statistics, in 2008 there were 111 incidents of piracy recorded compared with 114 attempted attacks in 2009.
There has also been an increase in the number of vessels fired upon in these regions from 39 in 2008 to 54 cases so far this year.
“In 2008, a total of 815 crew members were held captive, while the total number of hostages taken in these regions during 2009 already stands at 753. A total of 32 vessels were hijacked by Somali pirates in the first nine months of 2009, with 533 crew members taken hostage. A further 86 vessels were fired upon and as of December 6, 2009, 12 vessels with 275 crew held hostage, were still negotiating with the hijackers,” said Mr Mwangura.

Source: Business Daily Africa