The global shipping industry plans to formally end its piracy ‘high-risk area’ designation for the region just off the east coast of Africa and into the Indian Ocean at the end of the year.
Maritime Executive reports that this comes after the region has made significant progress in reducing the danger of piracy as there have been no boardings in almost four years, although a level of risk remains. The last attempted incident was reported when EU forces scared off pirates who had been threatening a vessel near the Horn of Africa in 2019.
The official notification of the plan to end the designation was submitted to the International Maritime Organization on August 22 and is expected to be approved at the organisation’s next Maritime Safety Committee meeting on October 31.
The International Chamber of Shipping, BIMCO, International Marine Contractors Association, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and the Oil Companies International Marine Forum took the decision to end the designation.
“This announcement is a testament to nearly 15 years of dedicated collaboration to reduce the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean. Through a combination of efforts by military, political, civil society and the shipping industry over the years, operators and seafarers are now able to operate with increased confidence in these waters,” the groups said in a joint statement to the IMO.
The region was first designated a ‘high-risk area’ in 2010 during the peak of attacks on ships near the Horn of Africa. Earlier, in 2008, the Council of the European Union had adopted an action plan based on UN resolutions to establish the executive EU military maritime operation for Somalia. This was known as Operation ATALANTA and its mission was to deter, prevent and stop piracy and armed robbery.
During January 2011 there were reports that there had been 736 hostages taken when pirates held 32 ships off the coast of Somalia. The combined efforts reduced piracy to a point where two years later there had been no successful hijackings of a commercial vessel and the last confirmed attack was in 2018.
EU NavFor reported that it had chased away a small boat in 2019. However, Iran claims that its navy has intervened in recent attacks. The EU extended its mission in 2020 to continue to patrol the waters and protect commercial World Food Programme ships and other vulnerable vessels. EU NavFor’s mandate is scheduled to end on December 31, 2022.
The shipping organisations said the removal of the HRA reflected a significantly improved piracy situation in the region. However, they warned that threat and risk assessments should still be carried out and ships should continue to report to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and register with the Maritime Security Centre for the Horn of Africa under the Voluntary Reporting Area administered by UKMTO. The designation is expected to be lifted with effect from January 1, 2023.
