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The Threat of Maritime Piracy – In Hot Waters?

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Mitakshara Kapoor
Maritime Piracy

Maritime Piracy is defined as an act of robbery or criminal violence committed by attackers aboard a ship or boat against another ship or a coastal region with the primary goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods or possessions. As a result, it is anticipated to have been around for as long as the business has been conducted on the oceans. Since piracy first became an issue in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in the 14th century BC, no one has been able to find a solution for 34 centuries.

In 2019, 162 ships were assaulted worldwide by pirates, according to Statista. This number was 445 in 2010, and the statistics reflect a consistent decline over the previous ten years. However, according to data from the “International Maritime Bureau (IMB) of the International Chamber of Commerce,” piracy and armed robbery increased during the first nine months of 2020 on international waters. Despite the pandemic that resulted in travel restrictions, there were 132 attacks during that period as opposed to 119 incidents over the same period of 2019 year.

Pirate Attacks and Maritime Terrorism

Piracy

Piracy on the high seas is a very old form of international crime. It began at the same time when maritime trade expanded and naval combat got its start. For almost as long as trade has been conducted on the world’s oceans and seas, piracy has been a problem for commercial vessels.

Piracy was described in several ways as a phenomenon of international law before the “Geneva Convention on the High Seas‘ ratification in 1958”. Many foreign lawyers considered that an act had to be performed with the force of arms, have some relation to the water, and pose a threat to everyone to be classified as maritime piracy (Korobeev, 2015). In other words, any act of violence against people or property that a private vessel performed against another vessel on the open sea without the required authority was considered to be piracy.

First provided at the “Convention on the High Seas in 1958”, the legal definition of piracy was later presented at the “UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982”. The following actions are recognized as acts of piracy under Article 15 of the Convention of 1958 and Article 101 of the Convention of 1982:

  • Any unlawful assault, detention, or robbery carried out for personal benefit by members of a private ship’s crew or passengers of a private aircraft against people or property on board any other ship or aircraft operating in international waters;
  • Any voluntary use of a ship or an aircraft by a person who is aware that the use of the ship or aircraft constitutes involvement in piracy on board or aboard the vessel or aircraft;
  • Any act that wilfully encourages or promotes a violation of paragraphs “a” or “b” (“the Geneva Convention on the High Seas, 1958; United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982”).

The International Maritime Organization, which has studied diligently to address the issues of piracy, categorizes it into 3 groups:

  • Low-Level Armed Robbery (LLAR) – These are small groups that operate independently. They favor a quick raid, after which the pirates quickly flee with the valuables or cash that is the easiest to take. The crew frequently learns of the loss only after the pirates vanish. They occasionally utilize light thrust, hacking, and armaments that can be dangerous to people other than ship crews; for instance, firing a gun on a tanker could have disastrous effects. These assaults are carried out on ships that are anchored or that are close to a port so that the gangs can board the ship quickly from the water, freely loot the ship, and leave without being seen. In the course of their activities, this group of pirates is not interested in severe conflict. There have been cases where such pirates have abandoned their ships after running across a crew’s organized resistance.
  • Medium Level Armed Assault and Robbery (MLAAR) – Attacks of this nature are carried out by organized crime gangs with ties to port personnel. They frequently track possible victims on local docks and conduct speedboat raids using automatic weapons and occasionally anti-tank grenade launchers.
    Speedboats and well-armed pirates with automatic and other weapons can board a ship, keep it in their control for a while, and then steal various items of the property before sailing away. The chance of an accident increases when a ship has been so recently attacked and is occasionally left without a watch officer or navigator.
    To stop a ship when launching its armed attacks, pirates first employed crude techniques. However, throughout time, pirate gangs acquired contemporary speedboats that allowed them to intercept and seize ships on the open seas. Such pirate attacks study reveals that some pirate gangs have undergone specialized military training.
  • Major Criminal Hijack (MCHJ) – The planning and carrying out of this attack demand a large investment. This kind of piracy is carried out by internationally organized groups, who also seize ships carrying valuable cargo. They have a network of agents, and significant contacts throughout the various tiers of government, and utilize contemporary satellite navigation and communications technology. This kind of piracy can be classified into two kinds from the viewpoint of the victim of the attack. The first kind entails an armed assault on a ship to seize cargo, followed by the transfer of the items to another ship at sea.

Geopolitical Tensions and Maritime Piracy

Maritime Piracy

Piracy isn’t the only thing that can affect shipping, according to Risk Intelligence CEO Hans Tino Hansen. Global geopolitical concerns might have a comparable effect on the sector.

For instance, Russia has restricted government ships’ access to the Sea of Azov in the Black Sea, while also setting up military training grounds south of Crimea, which affects commercial shipping. “This of course has to do with the conflict in Ukraine and is also a measure to keep away US and NATO vessels from the northern part of the Black Sea,” he said.

However, the latent conflicts should be seen as a direct danger to shipping that, in the event of an occurrence, would cause collateral damage. Threats may arise in other places, like Libya, as a result of the political climate of partisanship and the sanctions that have been put in place. “There have been few very direct threats to ships calling in Libyan ports but [disruption] has been more collateral damage,” Hansen said.

Direct threats are still made to ships flying the flags of nations involved in the crisis in Yemen, such as the UAE or Saudi Arabia, in well-known hotspots like West Africa. There are some electronic hazards, according to Hansen, that are not intended for civilian transportation but pose a concern. “More security [issues] are the indirect threats from electronic warfare operations by various navies and states, where you lose navigation systems and communications systems.”

This occurs throughout the eastern Mediterranean and Asia, most notably in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Taiwan, according to Hansen.

Hot Waters of the Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is currently the world’s riskiest location. According to IMB, the Gulf of Guinea waters are the scene of almost 95% of all documented kidnappings worldwide. Seafarers reported 134 incidents of assault, injury, and threats in the first nine months of 2020, including 85 crew members who were kidnapped and 31 who were kept hostage on their ships. 112 vessels in total were boarded, six of them were fired at, and 12 reported attempted attacks.

80 of the 85 sailors who were abducted from their ships and held captive for ransom were taken in the Gulf of Guinea in 14 attacks that were recorded off the coasts of Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. The two fishing boats that were taken over were also traveling in the Gulf of Guinea at the time of the event.

Additionally, the Gulf of Guinea is notorious for its frequent pirate attacks, which makes finding a safe path through this region more difficult. For instance, “eight pirates boarded a product tanker on July 17, 2020, as it was traveling 196 nautical miles southwest of Bayelsa, Nigeria.” All 19 crew members were kept captive, valuables and documents from the ship were taken, and 13 crew members were taken hostage before they fled. Thankfully, a month later saw the safe return of the 13 crew members who had been abducted.

The most recent incident was reported on January 23, 2021. About 98 nautical miles off the coast of Guinea, Nigerian pirates assaulted a Turkish cargo ship. One Azerbaijani sailor was slain and 15 seamen were abducted. The ransom talks are still going on. There are other regions where piracy is a major issue in addition to the Gulf of Guinea. The Singapore Straits, the Indonesian archipelago, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, and Peru, have all seen pirate attacks on ships.

Maritime Piracy in the Gulf of Mexico

Piracy in the Gulf of Mexico, which was previously ignored, has risen recently. Commander of the US Coast Guard Ellen Motoi claims that there were four attacks in ten days just in 2020. “I think it was very eye-opening because more visibility needs to happen in the Gulf of Mexico,” she explained.

The Gulf of Mexico differs from other hotspots in terms of the sort of pirate incidents, even though the causes may be related to geopolitics and instability in a similar way to other regions. The typical pirate event in this area mostly involves smaller vessels, going at high speed usually armed,” she said. “The difference between events in this area versus Africa is that the intent is more focused towards robbery, millions of dollars are stolen – including sophisticated gear navigation systems and even fuel.

According to Motoi, the increase is also a result of increased traffic, particularly as a result of oil drilling, and the fact that pirates profit from lax law enforcement.

According to Motoi, the US is prioritizing piracy in the Gulf of Mexico as it gets closer to its national waters. “Our biggest role in this topic is staying connected with our international and domestic partners and the industry,” she said. “We need to stay plugged in because maritime security is one of our primary missions.”

Conclusion

The safety of navigation, people’s lives, and well-being are all seriously threatened by piracy and maritime terrorism, which further exacerbates interstate relations.

We can currently distinguish between various forms of maritime terrorism and piracy. These categories can be classified in a variety of ways depending on the types of attacks, the techniques used, the tools used, the locations where pirates and maritime terrorists operate, and other factors.

In the modern world, terrorism and piracy both involve comparable types of behavior. They want to assault and/or destroy ships, steal cargo and other assets, and hold hostages, among other things. Despite certain similarities in the nature and methods of pirates, terrorists are working toward other objectives that are not selfish. Any act of violence has a unique significance to terrorists. Terrorists never conduct crimes without attempting to draw attention to them, manipulate public opinion, or subvert established institutions of power. In contrast, pirates take control of ships and the people and property on board for financial gain, or self-serving objectives.

We can therefore discuss certain similarities between piracy and terrorist acts that endanger the security of marine navigation in light of the aforementioned offenses. However, given that they are associated with various social processes and criminal offenses, these crimes cannot be characterized as being similar.

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