A dramatic decline in piracy off the Horn of Africa and in the western Indian Ocean since 2014 has produced a collective sigh of relief among ship operators, government agencies, and others concerned. More than any other factor, the deployment of combined naval forces and armed embarked security teams is believed to have brought this crime under control. Meanwhile, other piracy hotspots have developed off West Africa, Malaysia, and elsewhere, and the marine transportation system evidently remains an attractive target for terrorist groups.
In November 2015, an Iranian ship was successfully hijacked by Somali pirates. On Oct. 22, 2016, the chemical tanker CPO KOREA was attacked by pirates some 330 miles off the Somali coast. Three days later, the LNG carrier Galicia Spirit was attacked off Yemen by men in a skiff containing a large quantity of explosives that detonated prematurely. In one week during November 2016, eight crewmembers were kidnapped, and one was murdered in Southeast Asia, with Abu Sayyaf the prime suspect. Pirates and terrorists of many stripes clearly remain cognizant of the high-value targets represented by ships and their cargoes, crews, and passengers.
Although the likelihood of a given vessel being attacked by pirates or targeted by terrorists is statistically very low, what is too often minimized in policy formulation and business decision-making is the impact of these incidents on the seafarer. For example, more than 3,000 mariners were held by Somali pirates during the period 2001-2016 — some for years — in brutal, traumatizing conditions that sometimes involved torture, injury, and death.
In 2017, the industry should ensure that there is no relaxation of vigilance and the proactive measures taken by coastal states, navies, and ocean carriers to prevent acts of piracy and maritime terrorism. The priority must be the safety and well-being of the world’s merchant mariners.