Maritime piracy: the onslaught of globalization

The pirate has the distinction of having created a universal legislation whose genealogy dates back to Cicero that designates him as the ‘common enemy ‘.

A Summit to contain the scourge

[NMS Note: This text was translated by Bing]

A Summit on maritime piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea will take place on 17 and 18 may in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital. Its goal: a regional strategy to ensure security in the Gulf of Guinea, in accordance with resolution 2039 of the Security Council of the United Nations from February 29, 2012. 

According to a report from the international maritime Bureau, 30 attacks were reported in the Gulf of Guinea in 2011 and 58 vessels were attacked on the sides of the Afrique de l’Ouest in 2012, which places the C√¥te d’Ivoire in line of sight of these pirates, as this country publicly acknowledged it lacks ships destined for the monitoring of marine waters.¬†The phenomenon worries the European Union, with 13% of imports of oil and 6% of gas imports from this region.With the exception of the Sudan and Chad, all sub-Saharan Africa oil producing countries lie in the Gulf of Guinea.¬†It comes to Angola, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), of Equatorial Guinea, of Gabon, of Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe.¬†Africa as a whole certainly has a high number of acts of piracy.¬†The pirates who are rife in this region are particularly violent, and the risk is they extend their area of operations in Nigeria, where they are currently the most active, to Benin and C√¥te d’Ivoire.

This Summit will be organized with several regional institutions, including the economic community of African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United Nations Office for West Africa, the regional Office for Central Africa Nations and international maritime organization.¬†According to the Pr Ntuda e, political scientist and lecturer at the University of Yaound√©: “these attacks are always perpetrated in groups formed and prioritised.¬†Hackers are running their operations with thoroughness, leaving as well understand that they have prepared them well.¬†They are armed with war (AK47) and edged weapons.¬†Divided into two or three fast craft, usually flying type boat equipped with two engines 75 HP Yamaha, they approached quietly, then opened fire in the direction of the bridge.¬†In a report, the Under-Secretary-General for political affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, UN has notified the Security Council of the United Nations that the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea “has become more and more alarming”.¬†Colonel Mamadou Mariko, Director technical √† l’Organisation maritime de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre (MOWCA), based in Abidjan, indicates that armed groups who hijack ships “are perfectly informed about the potential of each country.
MR K.

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The onslaught of globalization
Throwing grapple on boats, tankers and other floating giants of the seas, the forbans of modern times thus leave to the onslaught of globalization.¬†Their actions, apart from being very spectacular grab, all the same, the fluidity of trade and make the unsafe shipping lanes.¬†They are however only a few thousands of share the world.¬†Their method: kidnapping of sailors and ransoms extracted to the greats of world trade.They don’t win, grosso modo, only a few hundreds of millions of dollars a year.¬†But they cost between 7 and 12 billion dollars to the world economy, according to the NGO Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP).
Rebels in Nigeria, occasional looters in the seas of Asia…¬†All the pirates around the globe, the Somalis are by far the most dangerous and the most costly.¬†And for good reason: “with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers rustic, they disturb the traffic in the Indian ocean between Asia, the Middle East and Europe, or 12% of world trade and 7 per cent of the flow of hydrocarbons.”¬†In 2010, 238 million dollars of ransom was paid to the brigands of the seas in the Horn of Africa.¬†Who says better!¬†

It was only the visible portion of the Bill. The naval forces of the international coalition, which intersect in the Indian ocean or escorting merchant ships, represent 2 billion of expenditure per year, estimated OBP.
Shipowners would spend their side up to 2.5 billion dollars in safety equipment. In addition, the cargo must pass at full speed to avoid attacks, where outsized fuel costs.

Insurance for their outright exploded. The Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and the Yemen passage to reach the Suez canal, is considered, since late 2008, as a war zone. Result, insurance premiums have soared.
Where they cost only $ 500 per boat and per journey, they reach the sum of $ 150,000. According to Ocean Beyond Piracy, about 90% of the 30,000 ships that traverse the Gulf subscribe this insurance.

Despite these multiple costs, the portion of the Gulf of Aden remains more profitable that the long road that bypasses Africa by the Cape of good hope. This route adds 10 to 15 days at sea to travel from Asia to Europe. In total, it spawns up to additional costs $ 300,000, according to British shipowners. The largest of them in volume transported, Danish Maersk, has tried, before giving up.

In General, “even the most vulnerable ships continue to use the most direct maritime corridor”.
MR. T.

Via: http://www.elmoudjahid.com/

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