Seafarer kidnappings on the rise

AT THIS time of the year the annual piracy statistics appear. It seems incredible that in the second decade of 21st century we are still talking about piracy. For most people outside the shipping industry, pirates are just the stuff of Hollywood films and the history books.

While piracy is in fact still very much with us, at first glance the statistics appear to show things improved last year. There were 191 incidents of piracy and armed robbery on the world's seas last year, according to the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). This was a big drop compared to 2015 when 246 incidents were recorded.

Those figures mask a sinister trend. There were three times as many kidnappings with 62 people captured and held to ransom in 15 separate incidents in 2016.

Just over half were captured off West Africa, while 28 were kidnapped from tugs, barges, fishing boats, and more recently merchant ships, around Malaysia and Indonesia. "The kidnappings in the Sulu Sea between East Malaysia and the Philippines are a particular concern," said Pottengal Mukundan, director of IMB whose Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) has monitored world piracy since 1991.

The kidnapping of crew from ocean-going merchant vessels in the Sulu Sea and their transfer to the Southern Philippines represents a notable escalation in attacks, the IMB notes. In the last quarter, 12 crew were kidnapped from two cargo vessels underway and an anchored fishing vessel, and in November a bulk carrier was fired upon but pirates were not able to board the vessel. Earlier in 2016, crew members were kidnapped in three attacks on vulnerable slow-moving tugs and barges. IMB advises charterers and owners to consider avoiding the Sulu Sea by routing vessels West of Kalimantan.

Worldwide in 2016, 150 vessels were boarded, 12 vessels were fired upon, seven were hijacked, and 22 attacks were thwarted. The number of hostages fell to 151.

"The continued fall in piracy is good news, but certain shipping routes remain dangerous, and the escalation of crew kidnapping is a worrying trend in some emerging areas," said Capt Mukundan. He is right in that the fall in piracy attacks has got to be good news. But even better news would be a year without any piracy. With concerted and tough action by all the countries with coastline where pirates operate, that surely should not be too much to ask.

Certainly IMB says it is urging governments to investigate and identify the kidnappers and punish them under the law.

Out at sea however, ships and their crews are often very much on their own. Capt Mukundan said ships should stay vigilant in high-risk areas. "Shipmasters should follow the latest best management practices and where possible take early action to avoid being boarded. They should inform the IMB PRC or regional counter piracy centres for help and advice," he said.

Just a few short years ago, Somali-based pirates were amassing fleets of hijacked vessels off the country's coast. In 2016, IMB recorded just two incidents off Somalia. Pirates attempted to attack a container vessel in the Gulf of Aden in May, and fired on a product tanker in the Somali basin some 300 miles from shore in October.

For IMB, these incidents demonstrate that the capacity and intent to attack merchant shipping still exists off Somalia. The reason, however, that ships are no longer being routinely attacked and captured by Somali pirates is that a massive amount of effort has been invested in countering them.

The navies of the world deployed warships to patrol the area while ship operators paid for private armed security teams to guard merchant ships. Governments are pulling back warships from the area and owners may be less willing to pay security guards now. If those moves go too far, the IMB's fears of resurgent Somali-based piracy may be realised.

But the message from the Indian Ocean is surely that if enough resources are deployed and used efficiently, then piracy can be suppressed. That needs to happen urgently in several places around the world.