THE Indian Navy’s daring and successful operation against pirates off the coast of Oman has suddenly shone a ray of hope on the seemingly intractable crisis of a hijacking spree near the Gulf of Aden where Somali pirates have been picking off ships and tankers almost by the day. The heroic action by helicopter-borne marine commandos, who took off from INS Tabar, a guided missile frigate, and landed on a merchant vessel in time to thwart a band of pirates, came on November 11, within 24 hours of the world’s strongest navy - that of the US – expressing helplessness when pirates seized a Saudi ‘supertanker’ that was transporting crude oil worth $100mn. The robustness and alacrity with which Indian marine commandos sprung into mission mode contrasted with the overcautious and clueless attitude of other international naval forces who are currently participating in a joint endeavour to secure the safety of the vital sea lanes between Europe and Asia.
The persisting menace of maritime piracy off the Somali coast would cloud any premature celebration of India’s naval glory. This is not an occasion to revel over the sinking of a pirate ‘mother ship’, because any correct assessment of the significance of what the Navy’s stealth class frigate has achieved would preclude silly jingoism. A single ship and a navy acting by itself cannot cover the 100,000sq miles vulnerable to piracy. The protection of cargo ships and oil tankers in the high seas calls for a concerted international naval effort. India has just asserted its autonomy and ability by swinging into action for collective global good.
India’s daring operation might not have come off but for the pre-existing agreement with the Sultanate of Oman under which INS Tabar is provided berthing facility in the port of Salalah. Along with more regional states, the Indian Navy needs to collaborate with other navies to increase naval presence off the Gulf of Aden. The agreement between India and Qatar that lays out a structure for joint maritime security and training as well as exchange of visits is an ideal opportunity to work towards this end. India could also arrive at a similar arrangement with Saudi Arabia. The fact that it was a Saudi ship that was the first beneficiary of India’s new policy to place its navy to fight off pirates is a good augury. When Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have no hesitation in receiving Indian naval shipping, the dynamics of the ties thus established can have far-reaching implications.
It is high time that the civilian leadership in India wakes up to the changed international reality and opportunities that call for a larger Indian role in many spheres. Protecting commercial vessels from pirates is one of them, and can be a key entry point. Besides the ongoing naval initiative and augmentation in the Gulf of Aden, there’s much more that needs to be done. It should take the lead in pioneering a diplomatic effort with other countries to address the problems on land. There is already the example of Malacca, where piracy was quarantined due to regional co-operation between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Similarly, there is a strong case for India to encourage a regional naval task force and try to solve the issue by building up a multilateral initiative.
The Gulf of Aden has become the world’s number one pirate hotspot with 95 attacks on merchant ships, including 35 hijackings, and extraction of millions of dollars in ransom in 2008. Nigeria comes second with over 25 incidents, while Malacca Straits have slipped to the third with only 23 incidents, mostly due to effective patrolling by littoral states. While in the past, pirates would have taken over the ship and looted its valuables, the new tactic is to take the vessel to a neighbouring port and hold it to ransom. The pirates’ job has been made easy by the lack of effective governance in Somalia where the ships are anchored until a price is agreed upon. Ships are often kept for ransom for several weeks until a price is settled upon — the Japanese Stolt Valor was released on November 16 after two months of captivity. Pirates demanded $25mn — the biggest demand for a ship so far — for the giant Saudi crude oil tanker.
Earlier this year, after the hijacking of the MV Faina, a Ukrainian freighter loaded with T-72 battle tanks, the UN Security Council had passed a resolution allowing ships to patrol Somali waters, permitting co-operative countries to enter the strife-torn country’s territorial waters and use “all necessary means” to stop “piracy and armed robbery at sea, in a manner consistent with international law.” But given that Somalia has no government to speak of, there are limits to such pursuit. As the recent hijack has shown, the pirates’ heightened mobility vis-à-vis slow moving cargo ships has enabled them to expand their area of operations.
Since most ships have multinational crews and carry the flag and cargo of different countries, most nations have been content to pass the buck rather than take action. When pirates strike, shipping corporations are often left alone by national governments to conduct negotiations and pay hefty ransoms. They are forced to divert their vessels to avoid shorter but dangerous routes like the Gulf of Aden. These circuitous routes push the running cost to unmanageable levels. The rising incidence of piracy and the alarming rate at which they continue to raise the stakes have put the victim shipping companies and their respective governments in a major quandary about the appropriate response.
Indian shipping too had paid the price on more than one occasion.
It was a loss of face and morale for the country to see its vessels become victims of piracy without being able to act in self-defence. After some hesitation, the government a month ago decided to respond by sending its own vessels of war to protect Indian shipping, and the Indian Navy has proved the exception in recent weeks. Now the navy has again been given informal international mandate to take offensive action against suspected pirates inside Somalia’s territorial waters. Armed with this international “approval”, the navy is also sending one of its largest and most powerful destroyers to the Somali coast to operate with the INS Tabar. Since India has invested in building a blue water navy, why not use it for policing the Indian Ocean to stamp out a global menace?
But the manner in which the pirates hijacked a Saudi supertanker 500 miles off the Kenyan coast suggests that they are not novices driven by poverty, but motivated people with political backing. Four main pirate groups led by Somali warlords are reportedly operating with radars on some of their bigger vessels that are equipped with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. They have advance information about ships, communicate via satellite phones, and use fast speedboats. Considering the fire power and reach of the pirates, a more co-ordinated system has to be put in place. India has already sought deployment of warships on the high seas by various countries, particularly those in the Gulf, jointly under the UN flag. The time has come for the international community to co-ordinate national efforts and launch a concerted counter-attack on maritime piracy.
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