A study of the role of seafarers in combating piracy off the coast of Nigeria

Piracy off the coast of Nigeria portends grave danger to the economic, security, and sociopolitical development of the country. It also threatens both international and regional trade as well as the stability of the West African sub-region. Despite Nigerian government’s attempts to curb piracy caused by poverty, unemployment, including corrupt and weak maritime regulatory and security institutions, attacks by pirates have continued to occur off the country’s coast. Consequent upon the adverse effects of piratical attacks on their day to day activities, seafarers can facilitate the suppression of piracy off the Nigerian coast. This paper uses statistics, provisions of international instruments and domestic legislations, the United Nations Security Council resolutions, soft laws, and opinions of researchers to examine the nature, causes, and effects of piracy on seafarers in Nigeria. The author argues that seafarers are necessary partners to curb piracy off the coast of Nigeria through enforcing maritime security conventions and other related instruments as well as testifying against pirates during trials. In conclusion, this paper contends that acts of piracy adversely affect crew members’ life, health, family, job, and finance thereby providing an overwhelming motivation for seafarers to play a role in suppressing piracy off the Nigerian coast.     

The international legal instruments in addressing piracy and maritime terrorism: A critical review

This paper critically reviews four international legal instruments in addressing piracy and maritime terrorism - UNCLOS, SUA, PSI and the ISPS Code. Piracy on high seas is currently becoming key tactics of terrorist groups - many of today's pirates are also terrorists with ideological bents and a broad political agenda. The intertwining of piracy and maritime terrorism poses substantial risks for global markets, understanding that much of the world's energy and cargoes being shipped through pirate-infested regions like Southeast Asia. Through investigating the contributions and limitations of the stated instruments, several constructive recommendations are offered to improve their effectiveness in controlling and deterring piracy and maritime terrorism from threatening the well-being of the maritime industries in the post-2008 world.     

Maritime piracy in the Indo-Pacific region – ship vulnerability issues

This paper describes the current situation with piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly off the Horn of Africa and in Southeast Asia. This situation may be aggravated due to the downturn in international shipping following the global financial crisis. This has led to surplus shipping capacity, crews paid off, lower profits, and ship owners seeking to cut costs. Many ships are laid up in anchorages prone to sea robbery, and there is a risk that ships might be less well maintained and operated. This paper also explains how some ships are more vulnerable to attack than others. Sub-standard ships are more likely to be successfully attacked than quality vessels. Issues are identified that might be addressed by the shipping industry and ship owners, as well as by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In addition to being a victim of piracy, the shipping industry could be adding to the problem by laying up ships in vulnerable areas, reducing wages and sizes of crew and employing sub-standard ships. This situation could be symptomatic of wider problems in international shipping that throw doubt on the effectiveness of current regimes for ship safety, security and marine environmental protection.     

A study of maritime security and piracy

This paper studies the contributing factors of maritime piracy by analyzing previous incidents that have been reported to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Part of the analysis is to filter those ship types that are particularly vulnerable to piracy attacks. The paper also introduces the guidelines developed by the IMO and the industry envisaging to minimize the risk to ships that are exposed to attacks from pirates. It further describes the initiatives taken to develop a sustainable mechanism in the high-risk area (HRA)¹ to suppress piracy and other maritime crimes. This study reflects the fact that maritime security and piracy issues’ importance has been increasingly recognized in the 40 year history of Maritime Policy & Management.     

Introduction to the special issue on maritime security

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 heightened awareness about the vulnerability of all modes of transportation to terrorist attack. The issue of maritime security has therefore become a major concern in the international maritime sector over the past several years. Globalization has led to a strong growth in seaborne trade; however, it simultaneously increases vulnerability to not only terrorism but also international criminal activities that threaten the world's supply chain. For example, in 2008, the rise in piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden brought the issue of maritime security to the forefront of international debate. In addition to the direct impact on ships, crews and cargoes, and on the maritime industry and governments, piracy also threatens global seaborne trade, and has an impact on energy security and the environment [UNCTAD, 2009, Review of Maritime Transport 2009 (New York: United Nations)]. Maritime piracy can pose substantial risks to seaborne trades, with considerable commodities, ranging between raw materials and energy to high-value manufactured products, being shipped between global economic powerhouses [FU, X. W., NG, A. K. Y., LAU, Y. Y., forthcoming, The impacts of maritime piracy on global economic development: The case of Somalia. Maritime Policy and Management]. Maritime security management, including the definition of security, maritime risk assessment, security measures, the regulation and policy of maritime security in shipping and port-related business operations has been receiving growing attention, both in practice and research.     

亚丁湾附近海域海盗犯罪的特点、成因及对策研究

近期,亚丁湾海域及索马里沿海海盗犯罪成为此海域海上安全的严重威胁。在认清当前海盗犯罪的特点及其成因的基础上,船方必须采取相应的防范和应急处理措施,确保船舶和船员生命安全。     

浅析索马里海盗现状和船舶加强防范的措施（一）

目前,索马里海盗活动日益猖獗,对海上安全航行构成了重大威胁。文中通过分析近期索马里海盗活动的主要特点、手段和演变趋势以及反海盗行动面临的主要挑战,探索解决海盗问题需努力的方向,并对航经亚丁湾和索马里海域的中国籍船舶如何防范索马里海盗提出相关建议。     

International cooperation against piracy: China's role,problems, and prospects

While there are some non-contentious issues about which states can cooperate, most must be molded around the demands of national interest. Piracy is a case where suppression would appear to be in the interest of all states; after all, pirates have been regarded as the enemies of all since Roman times. Despite this, states have often been more ambivalent as they have found piracy to be a useful cloak behind which to hide their wider geo-strategic ambitions. This paper notes that Somali piracy has attracted the interest of China whose citizens have been attacked and hijacked. It asks if this deployment demonstrates that China is committed to the protection of shipping in the context of the existing maritime order or if it has a wider purpose to advance Chinese interests in the Indian Ocean region.     

防范海盗形势分析及对策探讨

文中引用IMB《2011年度海盗和武装抢劫报告》的数据,分析了近年来海盗活动的特点、规律和发展趋势,介绍了航运界在防范海盗方面所取得的经验,探讨了防范海盗应遵循的基本原则,并对船舶防范海盗的良好做法进行了阐述。     

索马里海盗问题对我国航运界的影响

尽管索马里海盗问题得到了国际社会的高度重视,并出台了一系列的预防和惩治措施,但由于这些措施并未从根本上解决海盗问题,海盗活动仍然层出不穷。文中主要分析了海盗问题对我国航运界的实际影响,并给出了相关的建议。     

2009年世界海盗及武装劫船案件情况分析

从发生地区、水域及时间等角度对2009年世界范围内向IMO报告的海盗及武装劫船事件进行分析可知,虽然2009年案件实际发生率有所下降,但从全球来看,形势依旧非常严峻,海盗组织及相关武装力量的活动更加频繁,重灾区仍然是东非和中国南海地区。     

Piracy, navies and the law of the Sea: the case of Somalia

This contribution concentrates on the legal aspects of piracy and tries to explain some of the practical problems which modern navies experience in their fight against piracy and maritime violence off Somalia. The UN Law of the Sea Convention of 1982 provides a traditional though largely deficient set of rules for control and counter measures. Modern legal instruments such as the SUA Convention of 1988 as amended, recent resolutions of the UN Security Council and regional treaties try to fill the loopholes. Against this background the paper discusses e. g. the law of boarding and investigation of suspicious vessels, the arrest and penal prosecution of criminals and the right of self-defence in case of an imminent attack. The international mandates and the national rules of engagement in which the navies operate reflect these ambiguities that result in a loss of momentum. After all piracy is not an act of war, but a crime. In conclusion apolitical solution on land is indispensable as the navies and coast guards can only fight the symptoms and not the causes of crime and unrest in a failed State.     

索马里海盗现状及应对策略

索马里海盗劫持船舶行为给世界航运市场带来了巨大考验,造成了船期的巨大浪费、营运成本的大量增加和船员生命安全的严重威胁。如何提高船舶抵御海盗袭击、劫持的能力成为当今一项极为紧迫的课题。文中介绍了索马里海盗的现状特点并阐述了国际社会应对索马里海盗的策略。     

Merchant fleet development by legislation: lessons from West and Central Africa

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, several developing maritime nations began to invoke their 'legitimate right' to carry, in their own vessels, cargo generated by their own import and export trades as one way to reverse their underdevelopment and dependency on traditional maritime nations. Consequently, they embarked on the establishment and development of national merchant fleets by means of cargo reservation legislation and flag discrimination practices. West and Central African states have pursued a vigorous policy of merchant fleet development for over two decades. This study examines some of the cargo reservation policies and flag discrimination practices in West and Central Africa and concludes that these two measures alone are insufficient to build up a significant merchant marine. Merchant fleet development depends equally on the resolution of problems such as shortage of ship finance or capital, disruptive bureaucratic politics among the state agencies concerned with shipping, low volume of trade, and contradictory and ambivalent fiscal and macroeconomic policies in these countries that impede the development of the maritime sector.     

高压岸电在散货船上的应用研究

“神华501”是国内第一艘安装高压岸电连接系统的散货船,该船的成功交付及运营实现了绿色环保和节能减排的目标。结合该船的设计思路,通过对国际上通用的各种岸电上船方式的比较分析,确定了高压岸电上船的方案。同时,对国内外船舶高压岸电系统相关设计标准进行了研究,阐述了高压岸电系统的设计原则,以及在高压岸电供电工况下的短路评估情况。     

海盗活动对海上交通安全的危害及对策

从生命、财产、环境、通航安全等方面阐述海盗活动对航运业的危害,并针对我国防范海盗工作中存在的问题,提出健全和完善惩治海盗的立法、积极参与国际或区域合作、加强信息搜集与预警能力等建议。     

近岸钻井平台造成的海洋污染及国际海事立法

墨西哥湾"深水地平线"钻井平台漏油事件震惊世界,使国际社会再度关注近岸钻井平台的污染问题。文中通过介绍近岸钻井平台给海洋环境带来的污染风险,分析现有的国际海事立法现状,并对此方面的立法问题作出评价和展望。     

Maritime commercial malpractices and piracy under international law

The term ‘Piracy’ tends to be used in a loose, popular sense to refer to various acts of violence or lawlessness at sea which are not, strictly speaking, acts of piracy in law. In this article, the author examines the concept of piracy under international law and related notions such as hijacking and mutiny. In this context, he shows that the ‘malpractices’ of robber bands in such places as the inshore waters of Nigeria and The Philippines are not acts of piracy jure gentium.     

提高国内航行船舶检验质量的措施与方法

国际海事公约是船舶检验工作的主要依据之一,本文介绍船舶法定检验质量管理体系的建立和运行,加强与港澳接轨,保障国内航行船舶检验质量的措施;提出进一步提高国内航行船舶法定检验质量的解决方法,以使国内航行船舶检验工作更好地向国际公约靠拢。     

关于加强海上反恐保安措施的几点思考

“9．11”后，国际海运界关注于恐怖活动对海运业构成巨大的潜在危险，并开始采取相应的措施来打击海上恐怖活动。通过对IMO打击海上暴力和犯罪的工作回顾，阐述了恐怖活动给航运业带来的危害，结合当前国际反恐形势，提出了加强我国海上反恐保安应对措施的建议。