RE-THINKING MARINE PIRACY OPERATIONS

I am delighted to be on board HNLMS Rotterdam for a seminar on Anti-Piracy operations. Not many seminars are hosted on board a visiting war ship. All war ships on long deployment look forward to their much awaited rest and recreation while those ashore eagerly look forward to making the best use of the ship's presence in harbour. It is in this context that i offer my sincere thanks to Commodore Ben Bekkering for this gracious hospitality accorded to us today. Equally I am pleased to make the acquaintance of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands HE, Mr Alphonsus  Stoelinga as well as the Commander Royal Netherlands Navy, Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom .

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been asked to talk to you on the experience of the Indian Navy in Anti Piracy operations, lessons learnt and hindrances if any.

The Indian Navy, was fortunate to have executed two unique operations separated by a decade. I was a participant in the first as a Commanding Officer of a Frigate and in second as Head of Operations in the capacity of Asst Chief of Naval staff operations, at Delhi.

The first was in 1988, when a sudden coup de tat was attempted by mercenaries/extremists from Srilanka at Maldives. About 300 of them had entered Maldives but the President HE Gayoom managed to hide and transmit a message to the Indian Govt for assistance. While the Indian Air force and an elite Para brigade of the army swiftly swung into action within hours, the leader of the coup commandeered a Motor vessel called Progress Light from Male and escaped with 23 hostages and 47 mercenaries and headed for Srilanka. It was the turn of the Indian Navy to execute Operation Cactus, by intercepting the ship in high seas before she entered the territorial waters of Srilanka. Graduated use of firepower had to be resorted to by two of our Frigates,led by INS Godavari, while our newly formed Marine Commandos boarded, neutralized the mercenaries saved the hostages and the ship which was being scuttled. All this is of course on the internet.

A number of lessons were learnt from this episode, which was no different from Marine Piracy.

A decade later on 22 Oct 99, Indonesian pirates embarked and captured Alandro Rainbow, a Japanese vessel enroute to Miike in Japan, from Indonesia. This was a ship registered in Panama, owned by Japan, with a crew of 15 Philippinos and two Japanese. It had aluminium ingots worth a Billion Yen as cargo. The Pirates set the crew afloat in a boat and in a fortnight or so changed the identity to Mega Rama, repainted, sold half the cargo and set sail to the Middle East.

In a meticulously coordinated operation in which PRC of IMB, merchant ships at sea, the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy took part, we were able to capture the first, Phantom ship  at sea after using minimum fire power, return the ship to Japan with half the cargo and prosecute the pirates in our courts despite inadequate legislation, laws and knowledge of maritime environment by the judiciary. This had numerous lessons to learn which as you can see has been used in the ongoing  operations off Somalia.

Governments of most countries perhaps with the exception of USA and China are not known to expeditiously resolve issues related to legislation and laws to align with international treaties, conventions and laws.
 

Ask yourselves what would have happened if 47 commercial aircraft were to be hijacked and 867 crew were to be held hostage? Media would have ensured that the problem is resolved in the shortest possible time.

What then were some lessons on operations that we ought to have learnt? This is quite separate from addressing the core issues that create piracy as an option, due to poor governance, lack of development and a host of socio- economic issues.

Firstly, last 30 years have seen six different out breaks of Piracy. All were unique in their features pertaining to geography, motivation and execution. We cannot apply a common template to solve the scourge of Piracy round the world. For instance, phantom ships could be tracked if hidden transmitters could pin point their location at sea. In Somalia there was only one destination . All ships were taken to the home port of the pirates.

Secondly, a number of white collar workers have to support Piracy as a good business model. Imagine poorly run ports, money launderers, havala operators, qualified crew who take over and manage ships at sea, aircraft operators who drop ransom at predetermined locations, etc. If there is a will to track them the business model can be destroyed.

Thirdly, sharing of information among neighbours and diligent patrolling as has been done between Indonesia and India who share common waters  could be a deterrent.

Fourthly, we need a dedicated cadre of specialists on Maritime Law, who have had exposure to merchant marine, navy/Coast Guard in order to assist relatively small countries to come to grip with affairs maritime.

Finally, the Capt at sea should not be weighed down by restrictions of graduated application of force. Clear cut ROE's must be issued by Governments who deploy war vessels so that  officers are taught to use them with the discretion dictated by circumstances rather than fear of reprisal.

What might be classified as hindrances to operations?

Anti Piracy operations do not in the strictest sense fall under "Law of Armed Conflict". The Military options are quite limited.

Military assets are limited owing to various commitments including training. Hence such operations cannot be stretched beyond a point.

Limited legal options due to inability of most countries to prosecute pirates. Incidentally, after Alandro Rainbow we have discovered means to prosecute them . Presently there are 120 pirates undergoing trials in fast track courts in India. 73 have been released and repatriated.

Lastly, high risk areas are defined by various authorities. Best Practices at sea issued by Horn of Africa have imposed some burden on the Indian Coast as most shippers are hugging our coast which has implications to our fishermen. We need to rationalise this process.

In conclusion, much has been said about an integrated approach to addressing Piracy. We need academics, sailors, ship owners,regulators, insurance companies and crew who have been captured and released to participate in this exercise.
 Dalhousie University of Canada has launched one such project which addresses the human face of piracy and policy options available to decision makers. We can predict the next arena for piracy. The Gulf of Guinea is already a possible location.
 Piracy will not end as long as ships exist. If countries continue to emasculate their wealth and create abject poverty and illiteracy as means to keep the populace suppressed, pirates will find an easy way to earn easy money. Whichever is more lucrative, drug smuggling, human trafficking, gold smuggling or piracy. So long as ship owners are willing to pay ransom, Piracy could have a multi -Billion Dollar business model. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee!