Thursday, February 10, 2011
Coastguard Inspector General S.P.S. Basra said there had been a rise in pirate attacks on merchant vessels within 250-300 nautical miles of India recently and shipping had been warned to steer clear of danger areas.
He was speaking as the authorities paraded 28 suspected pirates who were caught last Sunday after allegedly trying to attack a Greek-flagged cargo ship.
The men -- sitting on the deck of a coastguard ship moored off the coast of Mumbai with their hands and feet shackled and muslin cloths covering their heads and faces -- now face police questioning in the city.
The attack was the second in as many weeks and comes amid lingering shipping industry concern and as the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) seeks a more urgent co-ordinated response to tackle the problem.
On January 28, 15 suspected pirates were detained after a firefight with the Indian coastguard and navy in the same area near the Lakshadweep Islands off the coast of Kerala state.
A Bangladeshi-flagged vessel was also hijacked on December 5.
"Indian Navy and Coastguard are sparing no effort to thwart any such activity in Indian waters and will continue to deal with such incidents decisively with an iron fist to keep our waters safe and secure," Basra said.
His defiance follows comments from Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, who told reporters last week: "There is no question of anybody messing in our waters or area. It's absolutely unacceptable to us."
But maritime experts assess that high-seas skirmishes are likely to get increasingly violent, as pirates seek to avoid international naval patrols sent to protect shipping in the key maritime corridor off the Horn of Africa.
The IMO said last week that 67 ships had been hijacked off Somalia in the past 12 months and 714 sailors were being held for ransom on 30 ships along the country's coast.
The Chatham House international affairs think-tank in London has estimated that the activities of increasingly bold pirates cost the global economy between $7 billion and $12 billion every year.
On Wednesday, pirates seized a supertanker laden with more than 1.9 million barrels of oil in an audacious attack off the coast of Oman as it headed for the United States.
Last month, US Vice-Admiral Mark Fox said that commercial shipping was under threat off India's coast and called for counter-terrorism tactics to be used against the heavily-armed pirates.
The UN meanwhile has said that tackling issues inside Somalia is the key to preventing piracy, as multi-million-dollar ransom payments prove a tempting alternative to life in a country racked by poverty and lawlessness.
"The pirates are prepared to take increased risks," Hugh Griffiths, from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told AFP.
"They come from countries with terrible poverty issues and the prize of ransom money is irresistible."
As such, anti-piracy patrols like India's Operation Island Watch launched in December using navy and coastguard ships and aircraft are likely to be only partially effective, experts say.
"As long as very poor seek ransom money, even doubling the number of naval ships on patrol in the affected waters are not going to stop individuals from forming piracy networks," Griffiths said.
Source: AFP