IMB HEAD CALLS FOR WARSHIPS TO “DISRUPT” PIRATE ATTACKS

International Maritime Bureau director Pottengal Mukundan has called for warships of navies operating in the Gulf of Aden to take a much more interventionist role against pirates operating from bases in Somalia. He was speaking against the background of a surge in hijackings of large merchant ships, including a 55,000 dwt bulker and two 30,000 dwt tankers owned by MISC. The Malaysian-based company has now stopped its vessels from sailing into the region until they can be better safeguarded.

Capt Mukundan told reporters. "The response has to rely upon the available assets to deal with this problem.

The government of Somalia cannot deal with it. The neighbouring states don't have the resources needed which, only leaves the Coalition naval units that can do something about this problem. We know these naval vessels are doing their best given the limited resources they have against their military priorities.

“However in this highly trade-dependent world we feel governments should give a higher priority to their naval forces to protect major trade routes. The Gulf of Aden is a vital international trade route and it is intolerable for it to be disrupted by pirates in this way.

“The Kuala Lumpur-based IMB Piracy Reporting Centre receives many calls about attempted attacks and passes the information of to the naval commands in the area. These reports provide important intelligence relating to the location of the pirate mother ships. It would be extremely useful if naval vessels could deploy to these locations and interrogate and board potential mother ships. If large amounts of weapons are found these should be confiscated. The idea is to disrupt the operations of the pirates before they hijack vessels."