Somali pirates sentenced to death

Justice, Yemen-style, and
a first rude wake-up call
to pirates, has been served
on six Somalis – the death
sentence.
The world’s maritime
nations have hitherto been
at odds as to how best deal
with the get-rich-quickscourge
by Somali and other
bandits. Yemen has clearly
decided enough is enough.
From a Yemeni
perspective, this harshest
of pronouncements is all
the more fitting given the
attack was not only aimed at
a Yemeni vessel but its crew
of nationals.
The conviction relates
to piracy and hijacking
charges stemming from the
April 2009 attack on the oil
tanker, Qana.
She had sailed from
the southeast port of
Al-Mukalla when attacked
in April 2009, with two
crew members killed, four
injured and one missing.
Yemen’s specialised penal
court also ruled that the
convicted (also six Somalis
jailed for 10 years each) pay
US$2 million – considerably
less than ransoms paid
for many hijacked ships
nowadays – in compensation
to the Aden Oil Refinery,
for compensation to victims’
families.
Captain Roy Martin, 14
years at sea with Safmarine
and in command of
chartered vessels for two
of those, says the Yemeni
sentence “sends out the right
message” and is more likely
to act as a serious deterrent
than the rather trifling court
sentences handed down to
date. “This is long overdue,
a positive step,” he said.
Martin says were he
in command of a vessel
in Indian Ocean waters
these days, he would have
“absolute concern” for the
well-being of the vessel and
its crew.
“Somali pirates have
ventured way past
Madagascar toward
South African territorial
waters and despite
increasing International
Maritime Organisation
powers to repel them,
this is not a military
problem but one requiring
policing; we are dealing
with robbers.”
Calls to South Africa to
become involved in the
fight against piracy have
been ignored.