How can maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden be addressed? Twenty thousand ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, transporting cargo that includes 12 percent of the world’s daily oil supply. This article outlines the challenges of Somali piracy and highlights the need for the capacity building of local maritime forces and for regional and international coordination. The (EU-funded) development of the Somali coast guard is an important initiative. These sailors need small boats, radios and armaments and should work together with corvettes and patrol craft from distant-water states.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the constitution for the world’s oceans, defines maritime piracy as an illegal act of violence or detention committed for private ends. Maritime piracy is a violation of international law and a universal crime that imposes a duty on all states to take action.
Anti-piracy patrols by naval forces have, however, had limited success. Warships from NATO and the European Union have deployed to the Gulf of Aden to participate in the multinational Combined Task Force 151. Naval forces from the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Pakistan, India, Iran, Russia and other countries patrol the area. The private military security contractor Blackwater has also made available to commercial shippers the services of a security escort ship. Still, many attacks go undeterred and the pirates have become bolder.
In response to numerous attacks on merchant shipping, therefore, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) sponsored a meeting in Djibouti in January 2009 to develop a regional approach. This strategy, reflected in the Djibouti Code of Conduct, shifts the focus from distant-water naval forces to local efforts. It includes the development of the Somali coast guard. In August 2009, the EU began training Somali coast guard forces in Djibouti.
Now that many of the legal and policy authorities are in place, the international community should broaden its focus to develop maritime security capacity among the states of East Africa. East African states need assistance in developing and operating a large network of small littoral and coastal forces to protect, stabilise and maintain order in the narrow seas and offshore regions.
- The large warships of distant states are too few in number and are inefficient for conducting maritime security operations. Instead, smaller warships should be used to train local forces while hunting for pirates.
- The Somali Coast Guard will need patrol boats, armaments and communication systems. Units of the Somali maritime security forces should work with small warships from distant water maritime powers. The introduction of smaller warships will create synergy and cooperation among Arab nations, distant water maritime powers and East African states.
- An international maritime operational threat response (MOTR) plan is also needed to facilitate rapid and real-time communication among relevant agencies. This would create a network of interested states that could coordinate in real-time and would enable them to work collectively and effectively across legal and jurisdictional boundaries.
