Enrica Lexie, the Italian vessel involved in the killing of two Indian fishermen left the Indian waters safely but the incident has left Indian shipping companies in a double whammy. Faced with the menace of pirates, shipping companies had made their peace with having armed guards on board after much debate. But, the companies are now not comfortable with the idea unless the armed guards are from the Indian Navy. Shipping companies feel that they would be left to fend for themselves against the might of a foreign country if the guards are from private parties in case of any untoward incident on high seas.
Although no immediate solution is in sight, shipping ministry is mulling to recruit guards from CRPF to be placed on Indian vessels. This option is being worked out after shipping companies faced problems hiring naval guards. “Naval personnel do not prefer to be under the command of a non-naval crew,” a shipping company executive said.
After International Maritime Organization recommended having armed guards on ships, several private companies had sprung up offering such personnel for ships. “This matter has to be given very careful thought. There are safety implications and legal aspects to this matter. We have to reach a solution which will be amenable to all,” said A R Ramakrishnan, managing director, Essar Shipping.
There are apprehensions among the shipping community to have any kind of ammunition on ship in the first place as it is unsafe to get into an armed tussle with pirates in high seas. Besides, to have such ammunition in the hands non-trained defence personnel is considered is a risky affair as they may lack the discipline of naval forces. However, no ships which had armed guards present on them have been reported to be attacked by pirates.
The instances of ship hijacking have dropped from 142 last year to 102 attacks this year, according to Bloomberg data. Much of this fall is attributed to having armed guards present on the vessel. Near Somalia itself the incidents have dropped to 43 from 97 in the last one year. Ships going to Suez Canal must pass Somalia which is the most impacted area with a total trade movement valued at around $1 trillion through the region.
However, Indian shipping companies see this as an immediate and temporary solution to the problem. The recently concluded IMO convention also took a long term view of the anarchy in high seas and has approached United Nations for addressing this issue. One of the options being discussed includes ways to stop the piracy on land itself which would require United Nations sanctions. “Most of the Somali pirates leave as fishermen from the coasts and become pirates in the high seas. It is difficult to rein them even on land. UN would need to take stronger steps,” a senior executive of Great Eastern Shipping said.
The companies meanwhile are resorting to the best management practices as recommended by the IMO. Based on IMO guidelines the Government has asked the Indian ship owners to create a safe house also called citadel inside the ship with provisions to last for 3 days and surrounded by bullet proof walls. There have been instances where pirates have broken into bullet proof citadels too. “Pirates are also known to pick up ropes fast in tackling the hurdles posed in their ways and retaliate better in the next attack,” the senior shipping industry executive said.
