Maritime Piracy: Impacts, Challenges and Way Forward

Context: 

Recently, the Indian Navy thwarted two piracy attempts off the Somali coast within a span of 36 hours.

Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Under Threat: Houthi Attacks Escalate

• Hotspot: Waters off the west coast of Africa, Gulf of Aden, Horn of Africa, Bangladesh, and the Strait of Malacca have seen attacks by pirates in the recent years 
• Resurgence:  A rise in piracy attacks is witnessed with  the first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 recorded in December 2023
  • Reason:  Israel-Hamas War: A  separate surge of attacks launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red sea and Gulf of Aden against Israeli-linked vessels
  • Security gap: International naval forces have been diverted north from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, creating a security gap in the region.

About Maritime Piracy

• Maritime Piracy is an umbrella term used to describe a range of crimes from petty theft from ships at sea or anchorage to armed robbery and hijacking of a ship for ransom.
• It  is as old as seafaring itself and is a maritime manifestation of instability and misgovernance on land.

• Impacts of Maritime Piracy

• • Maritime Piracy causes panic in maritime business and leads to the establishment of high-risk areas
  • It  increases maritime insurance premiums. 
  • It affects the safety of ships and seafarers
  • It disrupts global supply chains.

Maritime Piracy in Indian Ocean

• Peak:  As per  The International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy attacks globally, 
  • The total number of attacks in the Indian Ocean region attributed to Somali pirates peaked in 2011 with  237 recorded incidents with gunmen launching attacks as far as 3,655 kilometers (2,270 miles) from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean.
  • But saw a drastic decline to 14 between 2015 and 2020 after international navies sent warships and commercial shipping deployed armed guards.

Indian Ocean As a Hotspot For Maritime Piracy

• Poor Policing:  The coastal countries have weak maritime forces, or none at all.
• Shipping choke points: The Indian Ocean has high concentrations of shipping traffic, being either choke points in shipping routes where ships are forced to converge or slow down by geography, or anchorages where ships remain stationary for days before entering port.
• Poor Law and Order situation: Poor governance or turmoil on land close to these areas leads to unemployment, poverty and consequently, crime.
• Jurisdictional ambiguities:  These areas are mostly international waters, international straits, or archipelagic waters which are long stretches of sea that fall within the maritime jurisdiction of several countries. 

Role of Indian Navy to Counter Maritime Piracy

• The Indian Navy has been among the most proactive forces deployed in the troubled area off the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden with its anti- piracy starting from 2008.
• Maritime Intervention Operations (MIO): The Indian Navy has developed extremely high expertise in this niche area of naval operations using marine commandos in intervention operations. 
• Several recent intervention and rescue operations: 
• • Rescue  of a Sri Lankan fishing trawler, Lorenzo Putha, in a coordinated action with the Sri Lankan and Seychelles navies on January 29, 
  • Rescue  of two Iranian flagged boats with Iranian and Pakistani crew by the Offshore Patrol Vessel INS Sumitra within 36 hours 

Way Forward

• Coordination: Navies of different countries can coordinate and  use a common communication protocol, maintain presence, and share information to thwart piracy attempts.
• Warnings and escort service: Warnings and escort service  about suspect vessels and announcement of  escort schedules for merchant ships transiting the high-risk area can join shipping convoys between designated points.

News Source: The Indian Express