19. We have to remember that our economies are dependent on our shipping. Too many controls and restrictions would slow down the pace of growth. On the other hand one terrorist attack and the backlash would be felt around the world. Hence the policing, checks and controls have to be coordinated between various countries, i.e. the ports touched by the ship and the coastal states which the ship passes. There has to be a careful organisation of information sharing and intelligence sharing by the international community. All forms of intelligence i.e. electronic, satellite, communications and human are to be involved. The information on every ship should be available in the form of ports of call, crew, cargo, routing. These should be available on web sites. Of course some of this information will be sensitive to business interests and there will be reluctance to part with it.

　

PIRACY

　

20. Whereas Piracy is prevalent in the coastal waters of South and Central America, West and East Africa and South Asia, the largest scale of piracy is in South East Asian waters. I do not want to go into the theory of piracy but it would suffice to mention that there are three types of piracy. One is Marine mugging, which is done by petty criminals and lasts for a short period, may be a few hours, where pirates board ships at anchor or slow moving ships with low free board. Grappling hooks or bamboo poles with hooks are used to climb on deck. The pirates use the cover of darkness to come on board and threaten the crew with knives or other weapons and make away with personal belongings, safe contents and some upper deck equipment like ropes, paints etc. More serious is Cargo Hijacking, which can last for a few days where the cargo of the ship is hijacked and sold off in a small port of some big economy. The ship is later abandoned or sold to a scrap yard. The most serious form of Piracy is Vessel Hijacking, when the entire vessel is hijacked for phantom operation. These last 2 types of Piracy are linked with arms and violence, often involving deadly force and cruelty. Whatever be the type of Piracy, they are equally dangerous and harmful to the shipping trade and the maritime community. Most times the crews are so badly mentally scarred and frightened that they refuse to speak or go back to sea. Whereas Piracy in the Bay of Bengal and East Africa are of the mugging type, the incidents in South East Asia are of the Cargo or Vessel Hijack type. The IMO in 2001 reported that cases of armed robbery against ships has decreased in South America and Africa but increased in the Indian Ocean, East Africa and the Malacca Straits. The situation in the South China Sea is static and that is why I reiterate that it is important to discuss this subject, so that it can be given the importance that is due and some resultant action can be taken to stop piracy and to bring the culprits to book. Historically Piracy has flourished at different times in the medieval era. Every time it died out due to concerted and combined action by all seafaring countries, both in terms of policing and physical action and legal action to convict them in a court of Law.

　

21. Rather than going through this piratical harangue it may be better for me to mention a few specific cases.

　

22. MV Alondra Rainbow alias MegaRama ? The MV Alondra Rainbow was hijacked around 27 Oct 99 when it was on its way to Port Miike in Japan from the Indonesian Port of Kuala Tanjug with 7000 tonnes of Aluminium ingots. The pirates and the crew were set adrift in a boat and they were located by some Thai fishermen in the Andaman Sea. The pirates changed the name of the Ship to MV Megarama, but were apprehended by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard on 16 Nov 99, after a hot pursuit that lasted for 33 hours involving 3 Coast Guard ships, 2 Naval shipsone Coast guard aircraft and the use of ship and aircraft gun firing. The determined pirates refused to stop till firing was resorted to on the engine room which damaged the engines. Thereafter the pirates burnt the ships documents, papers and their own passports and all evidence, while opening the seacocks to sink the final evidence--- the ship. On interrogation, it was revealed that the pirates were recruited by an Indonesian agent and they boarded the vessel on 02 Nov, after it was hijacked by the original pirates who handed over the ship to them. The ship was brought to Mumbai by the Coast Guard on 21 Nov 99 and the 15 pirates were handed over to the Mumbai police. The pirates had embarked in Manila. The Japanese owners came to Mumbai and claimed the vessel and were allowed to take away the vessel by the Court after paying Rs. 10 million (US$ 200,000) as security. The Pirates were charged on 12 Feb 2000, under the Indian Penal Code, Indian Passport Act, Foreigners Act of 1946, Indian Arms Act of 1950 and on a charge of piracy under Section 1 of the Admiralty Offences (Colonial) Act of 1849. The trial finally ended on 25 Feb 2003 and all the pirates were convicted on 9 out of 11 charges. One of them had died before the completion of the trial. They were sentenced to different periods of rigorous imprisonment varying upto 7 years with a fine of Rs 3000/-. What you may think as the most difficult part of the operation i.e. the capture of the pirates and the ship was in actual fact the easiest when compared to the legal case and intricacies of the law that had to be overcome to get a conviction.

　

23. When the ship was apprehended, a photograph of the pirates was put out in the press. An interesting aspect was that the Korean police recognised 2 of the pirates who had earlier been arrested in China in connection with a missing Korean ship but could not be convicted for lack of evidence. Therefore, there was a connection between the two cases. It is also pertinent to mention that both the Japanese crew members were reluctant to give evidence in the Indian court, probably because they had suffered such a great trauma, or for fear of reprisal and both of them had decided to give up sea faring.

　

24. MV Gloria Kopp alias Kobe Queen I ? (Suspected Drug Smuggling and Barratry). On 24 Dec 99, the Indian Coast Guard boarded a suspicious vessel off Pondicherry on the east Coast of India. On boarding the vessel it was found out that the ship had changed its name from Kobe Queen I to Gloria Kopp. She was carrying 15000 tonnes of finished steel products from Turkey to the West Indies, but the papers were not in order. She was carrying a crew of 24 Ukrainians and was overdue at her destination by over 6 months. Surprisingly, within an hour of boarding the vessel, the master committed suicide by hanging himself in his toilet. Thereafter the investigation opened a can of worms. The ship was earlier on a South American run, carrying 3 tonnes of Cocaine for Spain, which never reached the destination. The ship had been diverted by the crew and part of the cargo had been sold in Sierra Leone. The Master was earlier in command of a sister ship MV China Breeze, which was later arrested by the US Coast Guard with 4 tonnes cocaine sealed in the ballast tank. Traces of cocaine and heroine were found on the Gloria Kopp. Soon after the arrest of the ship there were pressures from international unknown sources to release the ship, release the crew, to prevent the ship from entering port and finally to sell the ship as is where is before the Customs could rummage the vessel. Investigations are still in progress, mainly on account of the loopholes of the law.

　

25. M.T. Global Mars (Piracy) ? MT Global Mars departed Port Kelang in Malaysia on 22 Feb 2000 with 6000 tonnes of palm oil for Haldia in India and was reported missing on 23 Feb 2000. She was hijacked. All 18 crew members were set adrift in a small boat on 07 Mar 2000. They were rescued by a fishing vessel on 09 Mar 2000 and taken to Koh Suria in Thailand. The Indian Coast Guard carried out a continuous search in Indian waters and Thai authorities and the Royal Australian Air Force based in Malaysia were requested by the IMB to carry out a search. This was joined by the Japanese subsequently, based on IMB updates. The vessel commenced phantom operation and changed name and flag frequently. On 01 Jun 2000, the Chinese Border Defence Bureau interrogated a suspect ship at Hong Kong and found that it was the Global Mars. Investigations are in progress.

　

26. MV Tenue and MV Cheung Son (Violent Piracy) ? The MV Tenue and MV Cheung Son with 15 and 23 crew respectively were hijacked by pirates in 1997. The crew were bludgeoned to death in cold blood as they were found surplus to requirements. Some of them were tied to paint drums and thrown overboard. One such body turned up in a Chinese fishing net and identified as a missing crew member. Later, during a raid on a brothel the pirates were caught as one of them had a photograph standing with his leg on a dead crew member which he had kept as a trophy. The two events were matched and 13 of these pirates were sentenced to death for slaying 23 crew members of MV Cheung Son. The Beijing Morning Post ? a state run publication noted that this was China's biggest case of robbery and murder in 50 years of communist rule.

　

27. MV Medstar (Illegal immigration and Human Smuggling) ? On 08 June 2000, 14 stowaways later identified as nine Iranians and five Iraqis boarded the Medstar in Bandar Abbas in Iran. The Master and crews noticed the stowaways when they came out in the open at sea and threatened to blow up the ship. They had paid US $ 250/- each to an agent in Bandar Abbas and wanted to be taken to a European port. The Master sent an urgent message to the agent in India and the Indian Coast Guard apprehended the vessel 300 nautical miles from Mumbai and directed her to port. After a week long interrogation and negotiations, the Iranians were flown to Iran through their consulate and the ship with the remaining Iraqis was sailed back to Bandar Abbas to deport the stowaways.

　

Recommendations

　

28. Piracy has raised its ugly head from time to time, but every time it has been dealt with firmly mainly through strong military action, prevention and an improved legal system. Piracy then lays low for some decades and finds a way around these actions. We must look at Piracy as country or area specific with international cooperation. This is more so since Japan and India are the biggest maritime powers and the biggest maritime users of the Indian Ocean. In the 21st century ocean crimes including crimes of political and destructive ends are going to be on the increase. India which hardly has any overland trade and hence is like an island/maritime economy, and Japan which is an island/maritime economy, know best that our livelihood and economies depend on the sea. Any breakdown in the shipping business means a slow down for our economies. Therefore, we have to be working together to wipe out crime at sea and to make the ocean a safer and happier medium for mariners and trade. There are a number of solutions to make the sea and shipping safer ? one is to have a strong maritime policing force with regular and frequent patrols examining ships at random; the other is international cooperation. Nothing can work unilaterally as the sea has no visible borders or barriers. Ships are transnational.

　

29. Jurisdiction. Often you would find a ship built in one country belonging to a company in another country, registered in a third country, insured in a fourth, with the Master and Crew from 2 or 3 different countries, loading cargo in a fifth country destined for a sixth, crossing the maritime zones of various countries en route. This is an example of how a nation's maritime security interests extend beyond its maritime boundaries. If an offence is committed or traced in the waters of a particular country it becomes difficult to determine in whose jurisdiction it falls. And even if this is determined the particular state may not be too interested in prosecuting the offences. On the other hand the interested state may not have the jurisdiction. It may be mentioned that 53% of the world's shipping tonnage operates under Flags of Convenience of Panama, Liberia, Bahamas, Malta and Cyprus. As pointed earlier, it is important for a meeting of legal luminaries from around the world to form a committee to draw up the laws for jurisdiction and prosecution, so that such offences as Piracy to be tried by any or all the countries concerned. Generally each country is very protective of its rights in its waters and hence is reluctant to part with any authority e.g. many states would not be agreeable to the right of hot pursuit especially since their own vessels may be involved. And many law breakers at sea capitalize on this and try to take protection of this clause. It may be recalled that the Alondra Rainbow was trying to head for the territorial waters of Pakistan so as to escape from the pursuing Indian forces.

　

30. The IMO has drawn up a draft regional agreement on cooperation in preventing and suppressing acts of Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships. I am not aware of any states in our region that have as yet signed this Agreement, although it was proposed in 1999. It is therefore important that this Seminar makes a positive recommendation for this agreement to be signed by all the countries in the region. The IMO has also drawn up 2 very comprehensive circulars Nos 622 and 623; one being recommendations to governments for preventing and suppressing piracy and armed robbery against ships and the other being guidance to shipowners and ship operators, shipmasters and crew on preventing and suppressing acts of Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships. Both these circulars are very comprehensive covering all aspects. But then it is extremely difficult to comply with all the recommendations given the limited numbers of crews carried on board these days. Moreover, it would be very expensive to hire additional crew. In some areas where the threat is only marine mugging some companies find it more economical to bear the loss of petty cash and some ships stores rather than hire extra security personnel. Nevertheless, one cannot succumb to piracy and hence the better way out is to comply with as many of the IMO recommendations.

　

31. Advice To Governments. Vide the recommendations in IMO Ciircular 622, governments are advised to:-

32. Advice to Shipowners, Shipoperators, Shipmasters and Crews. Vide circular 623 to shipowners, ship operators, shipmasters and crews guidance is given on preventing and suppressing acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships. In short these are recommendations to:-

33. Ship Security Organisation. Besides the above recommendations/guidance, the IMO at its latest meeting in 2002 for compliance by July 2004, passed that each ship will have to designate a Ship Security Officer (SSO) who will work under a designated Company Security Officer (CSO) and be familiar with the new documents required to be carried aboard including a Ship Security Plan (SSP) based on a Ship Security Assessment (SSA). A similar organization will apply to ports. Besides the increased paperwork and the large number of jobs created, it is doubtful how effective this system would be. Suffice to say that it is one more step in the system of deterrence.

　

34. Multilateral Cooperation. For the fight against piracy and terrorism to be effective, I once again reiterate multilateral cooperation between maritime countries. Maritime protection agencies such as Navies/Coast Guards need to practice procedures and exercise together. This should also include joint training and education. Joint surveillance, and patrolling is also strongly recommended as the problem of hot pursuit will be solved. This will also send a clear cut signal to would be pirates.

　

35. Information Intelligence Sharing. The most important aspect of cooperation is information sharing and intelligence sharing. Each country□fs maritime agency should maintain data on all ships in their registries as well as all ships touching their ports including information of cargoes, ports of call, dates, personnel and routing of personnel and details of piracies and pirated/pirate ships. These should preferably be maintained on a web site for easy accessibility. Intelligence sharing is similar to information sharing but slightly different in that this would contain information on suspected persons and organizations, syndicates and back up institutions, intentions of pirates and likely piracies, ghost ships, lost cargoes, and suspicious events like last minute loadings, sudden deals, change of identities or programmes of ships. This would also help to solve maritime fraud.

　

36. SHIPLOC System. Together with multi lateral cooperation, the SHIP LOC system is a must for all ships. This consists of a small transponder which can track the ship via satellite. It is similar to transponders put on whales and tigers and migratory birds. They are quite inexpensive and placed in an inconspicuous position on the ship unknown even to the master or crew. This transponder can transmit a position to the monitoring agency ? say the shipowner at regular intervals of say 24 or 12 or 6 hourly intervals. Once the position of a missing ship is known, 90% of the problem would be solved.

　

37. Legislation. Finally cooperation is required to bring the culprits to book. For this the legal committees must enact fool proof laws plugging all loopholes so that pirate ships or pirates cannot pass through. Only through such a system of cooperation will we be able to lick the scourge of Piracy. India and Japan are major maritime countries and have the goodwill and strength to influence the smaller maritime nations.

　

Way Ahead

　

38. The Anti-Piracy action was given a boost when late Prime Minister Obuchi raised the issue in ASEAN + 1 Conference in Manila in November 1999 proposing an international conference on Anti-Piracy to be held. Thereafter a series of conferences were held in Singapore and Tokyo culminating in the Tokyo Conference from 27 to 29 April 2000, which I attended as the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard, where the Tokyo Appeal was jointly issued by 15 countries. This Conference was supported by the Nippon Foundation which has taken a number of initiatives in anti-Piracy.

　

39. Besides the anti-Piracy seminars sponsored by Japan, anti-Piracy seminars have been held in various parts of the world by the IMO, one was held in Delhi sponsored by the Society of Indian Ocean studies and VAdm MK Roy who is present here and perhaps the first of the seminars on this subject. An international ARF seminar was also held in Mumbai which was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard in 2001 under my Chairmanship. At all these seminars, more or less the same recommendations are being made. What needs to be done now is to ensure that the recommendations are being carried out. At most of the seminars that I attended I found a number of high level Government Officials, but not enough shipowners, shipoperators masters and crewmen. We have to make sure that each of our Governments conducts seminars/classes/syllabus for examinations for raising the awareness among shipowners and crew.

　

40. The main recommendation of the Tokyo appeal was multilateral cooperation which means joint exercises, training, education and dialogue. Therefore besides all the recommendations of IMO Circulars 622 and 623 and introducing the high tech solutions of the SHIPLOC system and instant communications, what came out clearly in the Alondra Rainbow incident was the quick action and interaction by the Indian Coast Guard with various agencies. Hence a very important requirement is not for Government to Government to speak at the diplomatic level but for the working hands in the Coast Guards/Navies/Policing agencies to know their opposite members in various countries and to have ready at hand names, telephone numbers and Fax numbers of persons in these agencies as well as Ports, Registers and Shipping Companies. This is one of the most important requirements to dialogue and bust a piracy as it happens. This will ensure safe shipping and hence safe maritime trade which will make our economies progress on the fast track.