A maritime security expert has cautioned that moves to review the high risk area (HRA) security rating in the Indian Ocean could lead to a return to hijackings and hostage taking.
The Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia is expected to make an announcement this month on whether there will be a change to the size and shape of the high risk area in the northwest Indian Ocean.
Chief executive of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry, Peter Cook, said in an Industry Viewpoint blog in Lloyd’s List that the coastal states had been pressuring the shipping industry to reduce the rating to something more reflective of the current situation as piracy in the Indian Ocean had dropped to an all-time low.
According to Cook, the last large commercial vessel to be hijacked was in May 2012. “But people don't live at sea, they live on land, and if the conditions ashore don't allow them to make a living, they will turn to the sea. Despite efforts to improve conditions in Somalia it remains a dangerous, lawless failed state which is not attracting any new industry or employment,” said Cook.
He pointed out that the latest threat assessment by the naval forces stated that piracy was at a very low level but warned that the piracy networks were "dormant" and "not dismantled or destroyed". They also admitted that their intelligence picture ashore was inadequate, making it very difficult to make assessments of future activity.
He believes that if the HRA is reduced it would send a clear message to the pirates that maritime organisations think Somali piracy is over.
“Second, and more importantly, it would send a very strong signal to the politicians of countries that provide warships that they can bring their vessels home, taking away one of the three interrelated elements that most effectively deters pirates returning to sea,” commented Cook.
He noted that any resurgence of piracy was unlikely to be immediate because of the heavy seas of the monsoon. “However, as the monsoon weather recedes in the spring, we will see if the pirates return to plunder the seas off the Horn of Africa.”
