How serious is the risk of being hi-jacked in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean?

On February 19th 2010, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, NATO maritime commander in Northwood UK, cautioned against complacency to ships passing though the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean between the Seychelles and along the African coastline as far as Tanzania: "Whilst NATO, her maritime partners and other navies are working hard conducting counter-piracy patrols, ships' masters have to accept personal responsibility for the safety of their crew and should have in place the recommended self-protection measures against pirate attacks."

Ships passing though the Gulf of Aden are advised to adopt "Best Management Practices'" (BMP) which have been drawn up by the Shipping Industry in combination with Coalition Forces.  The significant points include the recommendation that all shipping uses the IRTC (International Recognized Transit Corridor) which runs roughly 500 miles at the foot of the Gulf as it enters the Indian Ocean.  This corridor is patrolled by NATO/EUNAVFOR (EU Naval Force) and the CMF (Combined Maritime Force) totaling about 30 different nations.   On average there are 17 warships at any given moment accompanying convoys of merchant shipping though these shipping lanes, through which pass roughly 30,000 merchant ships every year.

This increased naval protection has led to a marked decrease in successful pirate hi-jackings.  Statistics reveal that in 2008 the pirates success rate ran to 42 out of 122 attacks, i.e. around 33%.  In 2009, the numbers of attacks rose to 198 though with a proportional drop in success to 50 hi-jacked, representing 25%.  Why? 

Undoubtedly the presence of international navies’ warships has acted as a deterrent particularly since they have been more pro-active in chasing pirates in recent months?  It was indeed a sorry tale when news broke that the RFA Wave Knight stood by doing nothing while the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler was taken hostage off their yacht the Lynn Rival last October.  2010 however has seen more robust naval action:  The Danish warship Absalom sent in Special Forces earlier in February when the MV Arielle sent out distress signals.  Although the Special Forces found no pirates on board (they had fled), the Russian ship, the Neutrashimy later picked up 7 of the pirates.  Last Saturday, Febraury 20th, the Turkish frigate, TCG Gemlik, detained seven pirates after intercepting their boat when the pirates were endeavouring to attack a Japanese merchant vessel off the coast of Somalia.

International navies have had one obstacle removed since last October.  This was the fear that any pirate prosecutions might lead to the pirates demanding asylum in the country where the prosecution takes place.  The issue now seems to have been resolved and an increasing number of countries are willing to host legal trials of pirates.  Kenya has been undertaking prosecutions for some time now, and has been joined by the Seychelles and Tanzania. Another pirate’s case is being held in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.  Russia is still debating where to prosecute the pirates held by the Neutrashimy.

However, another good reason for the increasing number of rebuttals of pirates has been through the merchant ships’ preventative actions and pre-planned installation of defences such building stanchions to run razor wire around the hull’s circumference, defences of lower decks access, and crew training of manning unarmed defence weapons such as water hoses. These form part of the BMP guidelines.  U.S. State Department official Thomas Countryman at a briefing on February 18th commented that it is these simple methods, which act as a major deterrent to the pirates.

The BMP covers proper use of self-protection Measures, and utilising the usual good practice of seamanship.   These include keeping the vessel at maximum speed (preferably over 15 knots), use of flares, water hoses, and at worst, use of small arms fire, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG).  Ships are encouraged to prepare physical defences and run pirate attack risk assessments in order to locate vulnerable points and secure them in advance of entering pirate waters as well as training the crew in defence tactics

Most importantly in view of the vast area bounded by 60 East and 10 South it is imperative that ships make regular reports of their positions to UKMTO Dubai ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and, the Marine Liaison Office (MARLO) who act as liaison for all shipping information with the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) which in turn will provide the most updates on pirate activity.

It is interesting to note that Captain Richard Farrington, Chief of Staff of the EU Naval Force, and co-chairman of the Shared Awareness and De-confliction (SHADE) mechanism, updated a recent meeting of Working Group 1 of the UN/IMO's Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) on 24/11/09.  He reported that 7 out of 8 recently hijacked ships had not reported their movements to UKMTO, none of these had registered with MSCHOA and only 2 out of 156,000 vessels that had registered their transits had been successfully hi-jacked.

Usually pirate attacks occur when a vessel has a combination of the following
low speed, low freeboard, inadequate planning and procedures, visibly low state of alert and/or lack of evident self-protective
measures.  According to Captain Howard Snaith, Marine Director of INTERTANKO (the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners), the average pirate attack lasts only 11 minutes, and therefore that a policy of "detracting, deterring, delaying" by implementing BMPs, reporting to UKMTO and registering with MSCHOA is the most effective way of avoiding a hijacking situation.

The fact that an attack is so swift is a strong reason for shipping companies to follow the BMP recommendation that while transiting pirate waters, especially the IRTC, a 24/7 watch is maintained.  Taking on extra security personnel is optional in the BMP, although interestingly, unarmed is advised.

The correct answer to how serious is the risk of being hi-jacked must lie with the statistical evidence.  If a ship follows the BMP procedures  as set out and updated regularly, the chances of being hi-jacked are significantly reduced.  However, it is a “Cat & Mouse” game.  As the pirates’ methods are countered so they will develop different tactics. The latest issue of the Gulf of Aden Security Review issued by the Center for Defense Studies reports that “the Somali weapons market has been thriving as of late. Abdi Hirsi, a weapons dealer, described business as “brisk,” with prices going up as much as 25%. Weapons readily available for purchase include, “sky shooters” – rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft, and anti-tank weapons.”  The firearms anti is definitely being notched up a leg. 

Nevertheless the safest option must be to combine all the BMP suggestions with the provision of extra highly experienced security operatives who can provide professional security to work with the existing relatively untrained crews.  That way the shipping companies and the ships’ crews can face these hostile seas with informed caution as well as a degree of equanimity.  Admiral Soar continued with his statement made on February 19th 2010, that "Since the NATO mission started, there has been a 50 percent drop in piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden, but there is still a need for vigilance. The monsoon period is due to end and over the next few weeks we may well see a rise in pirate gangs attempting to hijack vulnerable ships".

February 20th 2010