Piracy is a serious concern today. And I think, even though there are so many governments involved, a unified decision has to come out, thats the best in the interest of all nations just like Laden case.

A very important point raised here sir. There is a definite need for governments to act and formalize laws, but what I find it difficult is unification. So many governments are involved, can a single law and/or solution be formalized for all the governments to enforce/follow?

More on the subject from Save Our Seafarers:

The Human Costs
http://www.saveourseafarers.com/the-human-cost.html
Seafarers putting to sea across the vast areas of the Indian Ocean, where armed gangs of pirates operate, do so with understandable terror and trepidation. They are not warriors but to earn a living they are putting their well-being and even their lives at risk.

Despite elaborate preparation and defensive strategies, attacks can happen very swiftly and are often at night. A small ‘skiff’ dispatched from an innocent-looking mothership pulls alongside the vessel, often undetected if the crew are occupied with their duties or sleeping. The pirates sometimes announce their presence by firing an RPG, or two, and a burst of automatic gunfire, but generally prefer stealth. They board with ropes and ladders.

Almost before they know it, the crew are overwhelmed. Any resistance is futile and likely to be met with unrestrained violence. The captors are usually ‘high’ on an opiate drug known as khat, which emboldens and overexcites them. It also inclines them to sadistic exhibitions of bravado.

From that moment on, life for the seafarers descends into a nightmare of deprivation, starvation, thirst, squalor, captivity, restraint, isolation from family and friends and worse.

If negotiations with the vessel’s insurers become too protracted, the pirate gangs’ response is to torture their prisoners. We mean medieval tortures - attaching excruciatingly painful devices to the genitals, prolonged incarceration in airless, utterly dark freezers at sub-zero temperatures, beatings with AK 47 butts and muzzles, sticks or clubs; being strung up on ropes, akin to a crucifixion in unspeakable agony.

Released seafarers speak of losing hope, losing their faith and losing their mental stability as they and their colleagues suffer weeks and months of this monstrous, ill-deserved abuse.

On release, many captives are skeletal, damaged, traumatised and broken in mind and spirit. Although younger seafarers often have a chance to recover and resume their lives, older hostages rarely return to sea. They and their families pay for the misfortune of being captured with a lifetime of hardship, poverty, illness and depression. For many, witnessing the torture of their fellow men leaves indelible mental scars.

The hostages’ lives become defined by the permanent corrosive tragedy of being unable to surmount the unpunished injustice they have suffered. That is the human cost of piracy. Wrecked lives, wrecked families, destroyed livelihoods and lost faith.

The Economic Costs
http://www.saveourseafarers.com/the-material-cost-of-piracy.html
Both the number and severity of hijackings by gangs of Somali criminals is escalating. There is a growing economic cost to the outrage of piracy, which we are all paying. As ever, those who already have the least are paying most dearly.

On average, the mighty shipping industry moves about one tonne of material for everyone on the planet each year; food, fuel, raw materials, manufactured goods and so forth. Of course, that means four-or-five tonnes for the inhabitants of wealthy, prosperous nations and meager amounts for the poorer ones; meager amounts on which they depend for their lives.

It’s fairly safe to say that without the shipping industry, half the world’s population would walk and the rest would starve.

Around 20 per cent of the world’s shipped goods pass through waters that are now infested with pirates. Few vessels are safe - from supertankers to small vessels. Some ships have the power, security measures and maneuverability to evade attack but many others simply do not.

The price of rocketing insurance premiums is ultimately paid by the end-user of the goods being moved. The buck stops with you and me.

Piracy is indirectly costing between $8 billion and $12 billion a year. Ransoms cost the insurers about $350 million a year. That’s a lot of money finding its way into the pockets and bank accounts of the cruel and corrupt crime networks that have sprung up to process it. The actual pirates are penniless peasant fishermen, dragooned into crime under the threat of violence to their families or the reward of a modest payment; perhaps a few thousand dollars.

The global economy can’t withstand the strangulation of one fifth of its commercial arteries. If piracy prevents the free transportation of goods through the entire Indian Ocean, as it already threatens to do, the world’s economy will hemorrhage. The wealthiest nations will deteriorate most rapidly. The poorer nations will suffer the greatest pain.

IMO Briefing: Concerns raised over mistreatment of seafarers being held by pirates

Briefing 24/2011 18 April 2011

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) expressed concern over mistreatment of seafarers held hostage by pirates

In the context of the recently-released Indian ship M/V Asphalt Venture, IMO reiterated its condemnation of all acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships and expresses its concern over the treatment of seafarers being held hostage by pirates operating in waters off the coast of Somalia. In particular, it condemns their use as “human shields” on board recently hijacked ships used as “motherships”, or ashore.

The M/V Asphalt Venture was hijacked by Somali pirates on 29 September 2010 and was released on 15 April 2011. However, six officers and one rating had been removed from the ship and, at the time of release, were being held at an undisclosed location ashore, where they remain.

IMO is concerned for the welfare of all innocent seafarers being held in captivity, and is working towards their timely release.

Using seafarers as human shields to continue to engage in piracy - one of the most heinous of crimes against humanity at sea - is totally unacceptable.

The IMO World Maritime Day theme for 2011, “Piracy: orchestrating the response” – and its associated action plan - embrace the concept that the safety and well-being of seafarers should be of paramount importance. IMO therefore supports the “SOS - Save our Seafarers” campaign (www.saveourseafarers.com) recently launched by the shipping industry.

IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

Web site: www.imo.org

For further information please contact:

Lee Adamson, Head, Public Information Services on 020 7587 3153 (media@imo.org )

Natasha Brown, External Relations Officer on 020 7587 3274 (media@imo.org ).

Public Information Services (External Relations Office)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
media@imo.org
www.imo.org
__________________________

Please note every year IMO celebrates World Maritime Day. The exact date is left to individual governments but is usually celebrated during the last week in September. The day is used to focus attention on the importance of shipping safety, maritime security and the marine environment and to emphasize a particular aspect of IMO's work.

World Maritime Day 2011 will be observed during the week of 26 to 30 September. At the Organization’s Headquarters, the Day will be celebrated on Thursday, 29 September 2011.

The Action Plan to promote the 2011 World Maritime Day theme was launched on 3 February 2011.

http://www.imo.org/About/Events/WorldMaritimeDay/Pages/2010.aspx

http://www.imo.org/mediacentre/secretarygeneral/speechesbythesecretarygeneral/pages/piracyactionplanlaunch.aspx This page spells out the IMO action plan.