It is generally accepted that more than 90 percent of global trade is carried by sea. Like all industrial sectors, shipping is now feeling the effects of the slowdown in world trade and the reduced demand for shipping services.

Recently, however, international maritime organizations have expressed concern over a more malicious issue that has been grabbing headlines: acts of piracy on the high seas.

When Somali pirates took over the Maersk Alabama in April, the incident highlighted what the International Maritime Organization (IMO) recently referred to as "the very serious issue of piracy and armed robbery against ships — an issue facing not just the shipping world but everyone who relies on global trade and the carriage of goods by sea."

"That means the vast majority of the world's population," Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, the IMO's secretary-general, wrote.

Indeed, the high degree of connectivity in worldwide shipping means that disruption in one key area can quickly ripple throughout the rest of the world.

As defined in Article 101 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an act constitutes piracy if it is:

• An illegal act of violence or detention;
• Committed for private ends;
• Against another ship, aircraft, persons or property on board; or
• Committed on the high seas or in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Piracy has been a global security threat for decades, most recently in the waters off the Horn of Africa, but also in West Africa, the waters off India, the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca and the Caribbean.

Worldwide piracy rates started to increase in the early 1990s, peaked at roughly 350-450 reported attacks per year during the 2000-2004 period, and then declined by almost half by 2005, a recent Congressional Research Service Report for Congress said, citing findings from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Yet, according to Mitropoulos, "the situation has gone from bad to worse."

In 2008 there was a worldwide total of 293 incidents of piracy against ships, which is up more than 11 percent from 2007 when there were 263 incidents reported, according to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre's (PRC) latest annual piracy report.

In the first quarter of 2009, the number of ships attacked nearly doubled compared with the same period in 2008, the IMB reports. So far this year, the total number of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia's east coast has already overtaken the figure for all of 2008, according to the IMB's PRC.

While there have been some positive developments in recent years — improved technology, revived naval budgets in Indonesia and guidance to mariners — the fact remains that piracy is still a considerable problem.

Initiatives to Counter Piracy at Sea
At the beginning of the year, the United States established a new task force, CTF-151, that has the same area of operation as CTF-150 (the Gulf of Aden and the sections of the west Indian Ocean near Somalia), but is dedicated primarily to combating pirates, as opposed to escorting merchant vessels.

Initially consisting of three U.S. Navy ships, CTF-151 has grown rapidly to consist of nearly two dozen ships (as of March 2009) from many NATO countries and other U.S. allies. Meanwhile, CTF-150 continues to perform counterterrorism and other maritime security operations as it has since 2001-2002. (Source: Vice Admiral William Gortney, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, March 5, 2009)

In December 2008, the European Union launched EU NAVFOR Operation ATALANTA. The 20 ships and 1,500+ personnel participating in this operation are tasked with providing protection for World Food Program vessels and merchant vessels, and are authorized to "employ the necessary measures, including the use of force, to deter, prevent and intervene in order to bring to an end acts of piracy and armed robbery which may be committed in the areas where they are present."

Significantly, the international community has recognized coordination is necessary for anti-piracy campaigns.

The IMO, which has had an international anti-piracy program since the late 1990s, has successfully engaged on a multilateral basis in other regions to improve international agreements on shipping protection. Currently, cooperative mechanisms for managing the security of the waters near the Horn of Africa are being developed. Early this year, representatives of 17 regional governments met at an IMO-sponsored meeting and adopted a Code of Conduct concerning the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. As of late January, nine regional governments had signed the Code of Conduct, which remains open for signature by other parties.

Other countries — most notably Russia, China and India — have deployed naval forces to the Gulf of Aden region to participate in monitoring and anti-piracy escort operations. From an operational perspective, these countries have ongoing communication efforts with CTF-151. (Source: Vice Admiral Gortney, March 2009 Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee)

Meanwhile, the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia works toward a collaborative, international solution to the situation. Established in mid-January 2009, 28 nations and six international organizations participate in the Contact Group and several other nations have requested to participate.

In March 2009, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched its second anti-piracy mission, Operation Allied Protector.

"While this patchwork of ad hoc multinational and national initiatives has achieved individual successes, defeating several pirate attacks and capturing some pirates, the efforts of the approximately 50 combat ships and thousands of military personnel have been limited by insufficient coordination," World Politics Review, a non-partisan, independent Web site focused on foreign affairs, reports.

There is no doubt that eliminating, preventing and suppressing piracy will be difficult, but a holistic 21st-century response to a centuries-old problem is made all the more challenging without establishing international collaboration on land.

Resources

International Shipping and World Trade Facts and figures
International Maritime Organization Maritime Knowledge Centre, Updated November 2008

2009: A Year of Challenge and Opportunity
by Efthimios E. Mitropoulos
Lloyd's List / International Maritime Organization, Feb. 20, 2009

International Maritime Organization

25th Anniversary of the UNCLOS, 1982-2007
United Nations, Oct. 23, 2007 (last updated)

Piracy off the Horn of Africa
Congressional Research Service, April 21, 2009

IMB Reports Unprecedented Rise in Maritime Hijackings
International Chamber of Commerce - International Maritime Bureau, Jan. 16, 2009

Piracy Attacks Almost Doubled in 2009 First Quarter
International Chamber of Commerce - International Maritime Bureau, April 21, 2009

Pirate Attacks Off Somalia Already Surpass 2008 Figures
International Chamber of Commerce - International Maritime Bureau, May 12, 2009

Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee
Vice Admiral William Gortney, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, March 5, 2009

The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia
Bureau of Public Affairs, May 18, 2009

Operation Allied Protector

Fact Sheet: EU Naval Operation Against Piracy (EU NAVFOR Somalia - Operation ATALANTA)
European Union Council Secretariat, March 31, 2009

Global Insights: Harmonizing the International Response to Somali Piracy
by Richard Weitz
World Politics Review, May 5, 2009