Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2011)

12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

NEWS POSTS FROM MARITIMEPROFESSIONAL.COM

The Asian Shippers’ Council has joined a growing cho- rus of complaints that initiatives to combat piracy are fail- ing and more aggressive measures are needed. Treat pirates as terrorists, the ASC said bluntly, highlight- ing growing fears that the pirates are working with al-Qaeda affiliates operating in the region. “We should focus our effort in determining the most effective way to remove the pirate leaders from their strongholds, located along the coast of Somalia, in Calu- ula, Eyl, Hobyo and Harardhere,” the ASC said.

The council’s call for the terrorism tag to be hung on pi- rates reflects the growing frustration among carriers and their customers at the lack of progress being made in combating the problem. It comes just days after Asian

Shipowners’ Forum’s Safe Navigation and Environment

Committee head Teo Siong Seng expressed outrage at the a lack of government action against an increasing num- ber of attacks on their ships and the brutality shown by

Somali pirates.

The committee wants governments to “act decisively” and “eradicate piracy and attacks on ships.”

Over in England, an industry forum hosted by Gray

Page and Protection Vessels International, and including former UK Shadow Home Secretary David Davies, heard how cutting down the number of ships being hijacked was a real possibility. But James Wilkes, managing di- rector for Gray Page, said anti-piracy measures would only work “if shipowners and operators are willing to adopt a security posture onboard their ships that is di- rectly and robustly proportional to the threat.”

This would certainly reduce the numbers of boardings, but would not eradicate the problem. Even the navies floating around the Indian Ocean in a heavily armed ar- mada are of limited use as they must operate under rules of engagement that are not suited to fighting an elusive foe on the open ocean. According to the ASC, even when pirates are captured, most are released as many countries are reluctant to detain and prosecute them. According to reports, EU and NATO naval forces captured and then re- leased an estimated 700 pirates in the first six months of 2010. “The time has come for countries and the international community to review laws preventing them from bring- ing the pirates to justice. Because of the peculiarities of the maritime industry, which involved many jurisdictions for the ship and the ship’s crew, it may be necessary to es- tablish specialized prosecutions mechanisms,” the ASC statement said.

Classifying pirates as terrorists will take care of that. It will enable navies to board and seize motherships, de- tain, interrogate and prosecute suspects, and follow the money to hunt down and freeze their financiers. That world trade is being held to ransom by a bunch of bandits in speedboats is unbelievable. Shipowners and govern- ments talk about “doing whatever it takes,” or “clamping down hard,” or taking “all measures necessary.”

But it is time to dispense with the euphemisms and for governments to go on the offensive instead of wait- ing for ships to be attacked and then repelling the at- tackers. Take the fight to the pirates. Sink their motherships, identify and kill their leaders on shore and crush this threat to world trade.

It has been going on far too long already.

Posted by Greg Knowler - Hong Kong

Asia Shippers say

Classify Pirates as Terrorists

PNTL

Operating specialized ships for carriage of nu- clear material

The Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) is one of the most unusual maritime carriers in his- tory. It specializes in the carriage of used nu- clear fuel, vitrified high-level nuclear waste, mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, and plutonium. Most of its voyages are between Europe and Japan.

Some of these voyages pass through the Panama

Canal, but many of them are non-stop voyages around the Cape of Good Hope and Australia. Be- cause the cargo on some voyages could be con- verted by terrorists into weapons of mass destruction, the vessels are equipped with 30 mm automatic cannons. They also carry a contingent of the UK Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), a government agency within the Department of En- ergy and Climate Change. The primary mission of the CNC on these voyages is to defend against terrorist attacks. The PNTL currently operates four ships: Pacific Sandpiper (built 1985); Pacific

Pintail (built 1987); Pacific Heron (built 2008); and Pacific Egret (built 2011). The Pacific Grebe is due to commence operation in 2012. The ships are purpose-built for carriage of nuclear mate- rial. Their double hulls are designed with twice the void space required of tankers. In fact, al- most 40% of the usual cargo area is devoted to void space so as to reduce the risk of sinking in the event of a casualty. All essential systems, such as propulsion, power generation, steering, and navigation, are designed with duplication and separation, so that if one unit (such as a main en- gine) goes down, there is a back-up unit to take its place. The construction and operational standards of the PNTL ships were used by the IMO as the basis for the International Code for the Safe Car- riage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Pluto- nium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes on

Board Ships (INF Code).

Posted by Dennis Bryant

Loss to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) from last year’s collision between MSC Chitra and M/V Khal- ija 3 has crossed the $100 million mark. The collision ended up with MSC Chitra listing and in the process discharging a huge quantity of oil and spilling out hundreds of containers into the sea thus causing dan- ger to shipping activity in the common channel lead- ing to Mumbai port and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port trust (JNPT). This had led to both ports being out of commission for over a week.

Capt D. K. Tewari, CEO of MSC Mediterranean Ship- ping Company S. A. informed, “The total cost for the cleaning up, salvaging and other losses has crossed the $100m figure and we are still counting. MSC Chitra hav- ing been refloated by SMIT will be handed over to the ship breakers once the salvage operation is complete.” “The emergency response was entirely handled by us,” stated a spokesman of SMIT Salvage. “We flew down our engineers and other personnel from Singapore and

South Africa numbering over 100 who set to work im- mediately to minimizing the damage and undertake sal- vaging operation. The Indian Navy with the help of the sonar helped in locating the containers that had spilled out from MSC Chitra. The local people, fishermen and even ships at anchorage helped by informing whenever they spotted containers in the sea.” “The whole episode has proved to be MSC’s biggest challenge ever,” says Capt Tewari. “One major issue that has come to light is the need of one Central Agency for emergency response with powers to handle crises of such nature and be able to give necessary directions. In the ab- sence of such a central authority it became difficult to take timely action, co-ordinate the various activities and bring in measures to contain further destructions from taking place.” He explained that they were left running from pillar to post to acquire permissions and spend a lot of time approaching various authorities involved. Neces- sary equipment was found lacking with the concerned agency including the ports as a result the cost kept spi- raling. Equipment which had to be flown down from abroad to control and prevent further damage got stuck at the airport awaiting customs clearance and handle pa- perwork.

Posted by Joseph Fonseca - Mumbai

MSC Loss in Chitra Collision

Crossing the $100m Mark (Photos Cour tesy of PNTL)

The defensive approach to piracy is not working – it is time for a more direct response to this threat to world trade.