More On Piracy Concerns in North Indian Ocean

Created by doina. Last modified on 2005-12-12 21:49:41
Topic: Piracy
Countries: Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Oman, Somalia, Yemen

Noonsite’s recent report on piracy concerns among sailors planning to sail in the Indian Ocean has brought us further comments. We have been in contact with the UK Coast Guard and were assured that UK registered yachts are welcome to contact MRCC Falmouth if they have suffered a piracy attack. MRCC Falmouth will then alert if possible the SPOC for the SRR they are in. They should also consider alerting vessels close by if they are fitted with DSC and selecting the piracy option. If fitted with Inmarsat they could also do the same and alert shore authorities that way. In the case of other nationalities, the skipper should contact their national Coast Guard office. Noonsite already had confirmation from US Coast Guard in Norfolk, Virginia, that US yachts that have been attacked, or threatened, may contact them.

As the usual emergency radio frequencies have been of little use in the past, in case of an attack, those equipped with satellite phones may call +973 1785 3283 (CUSNF in Bahrain) or +253 813031 the French Navy in Djibouti, but it must be stressed that even if the authorities are prepared to respond, it could take several hours for help to reach a yacht in distress. Uk flagged yachts may contact MRCC Falmouth on +1 44 1326 317575. US flagged vessel may also try USCG in Norfolk, Virginia, on +1 757 398 6231, who will endeavour to locate a vessel in the vicinity of the attack and request it to go the assistance of the attacked boat. The Coast Guard may also coordinate any rescue operation, or liase with naval forces in the area.

Richard H. Donaldson-Alves, Controller of the Mobile Maritime Net in South East Asian Waters writes:

The Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur has 32 "piracy" incidents for Somalia since March 2005, of which 10 took place off the North Coast, they do not say if yachts are included in the number - my own info has a total 4 yachts. The definition of piracy = any illegal act of violence, detention or any act of depredation committed for private ends by the crew of a private vessel against another vessel on the high seas (i.e. in international waters). Robbery: the crime of theft of goods or chattels within a given jurisdiction. I have reported many robberies from yachts in S.E. Asian waters over the last 6 years. The Piracy Reporting Centre does not record them. Nowadays North Borneo's waters require that yachts chain their outboard motors (on average one a month is stolen, the Piracy Reporting Centre does not record them). When a yacht reported to me from the Anambas Islands Indonesia that they had been boarded and robbed at gunpoint - I forwarded it the Piracy Reporting Centre but it was not recorded until I insisted that they take it on board - subsequently it was determined that Indonesian Navy personnel were responsible for the piracy. My gut feeling is that poverty, warlords and gangs will shape the way pirates operate in the Gulf of Aden this coming run for the Med. In other words, if they are not able to take a ship, any yacht will do - that's why I guess it is safer to take all reports as applying to any type of vessel.

Rod Nowlin of S/V Mahdi writes: We have working on trying to figure out a way for yachts that are going through that area to better protect themselves from pirates/terrorist attacks in the future. It is a real uphill battle as far as the coalition forces out there in the Gulf of Aden are concerned. They made it clear that their primary focus is antiterrorist, but whether they like it or not, they are being sucked into this piracy problem as evidenced by the cruise ship attack that showed what appeared to be a French warship anchored next to them on the TV reports. As Americans we have some influence with the American and possibly British forces. Unfortunately the French and German navies are in the Gulf of Aden. We talked to the US military attache in Cairo and his suggestion was that yachts hire guards to go with them from Salalah, Oman to Aden, Yemen or the other way. Obviously yachts don't have the wherewithal to hire mercenaries, but (!) we do have the ability to ask our respective governments to intercede i.e. state department, with possibly the Omani and Yemeni governments to have 2-3 of their Coast Guard or Army personnel to go with a large group of yachts transitting the Gulf of Aden, paying the expenses incurred by them. We are probably not going to have much luck asking for a direct escort for groups of yachts from Coalition forces. The Yemeni Coast Guard is getting organized and there may be some help on the horizon from that direction. Also, right now there is no direct communication link i.e. HF radio or satellite from a yacht directly to the coalition ships there. We need help getting these links set up. It probably won't help much with an initial attack but it would deny them the ability to take people hostage because all of these warships have helicopters aboard that can reach a yacht quickly.

All of the international yachting organizations and especially the yachts planning to transit this area this year need to start making direct requests for assistance that actually require an answer from their governments. You should have contacts with a lot of yachting organizations who have direct input to their respective governments. We need to send out a direct appeal to these organizations for their help.

Hiring mercenaries may be well beyond the financial means of most of the yachts. That is why I have been pushing to get the local forces there involved. I know that the Yemeni Coast Guard is very sympathetic to the problems the yachts are facing along that coast and they just don't have the boats and trained personnel yet to deal with the problem effectively. The Vasco DeGama Rally that is heading south now toward Indian from the Med has quite a few boats involved. One avenue of a definitive push for help may be for them to formally request armed guards aboard for the trip to Salalah. That way someone in authority has to actually make a decision.