Cyprus-Forum.com

[Lit]

The so-called 'New York Declaration' - signed on Wednesday by US Deputy Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo and her counterparts from Britain, Cyprus, Japan and Singapore - is an attempt to pool resources and agree on the best ways of deterring the Somali pirates who prey on vessels sailing between Europe and Asia.

Full story here:

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2B ... 28332.html

[Lit]

Cyprus props up western backed Somali government.

Cyprus donates to Somalia

A ceremony to donate military material which will be Cyprus` contribution to the EU initiative to train members of the security forces of the Somali Transitional Federal Government was held on Monday, at the Army Recruitment Centre in Limassol.

http://www.tolerance.ca/Article.aspx?ID=56152&L=en

[Lit]

U.S. backs piracy pact

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States and four other nations signed onto an international plan to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia, committing yesterday to playing a leadership role in protecting one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The so-called "New York Declaration" signed by U.S. Deputy Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo and her counterparts from Britain, Cyprus, Japan and Singapore is an attempt to pool resources and agree on the best ways of deterring the Somali pirates who prey on vessels passing between Europe and Asia. The agreement is nonbinding.

"We realize that the fight against piracy in the Horn of Africa region cannot be solved entirely at sea," Ms. DiCarlo said. Other needed measures, she said, involve nations adopting legal mechanisms to prosecute suspected pirates and Somalia improving its capacity to police its own territory.

[Lit]

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/128768.htm

United States Formally Commits to Best Practices to Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia


Washington, DC
September 9, 2009

In a September 9 ceremony held at the United Nations on the eve of a meeting of the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, the United States signed the New York Declaration, in which it committed to promulgate internationally recognized best management practices for protection of ships against piracy attacks.

The maritime industry, including that of the United States, was instrumental in creating and implementing these best practices, having adopted and documented self-protection measures against piracy as part of its compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code. The United States’ formal signature indicates its commitment to implementing measures that it has already encouraged and followed.

Cyprus, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom joined the United States in signing the Declaration.

Panama, the Bahamas, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, four of the leading ship-registry states, originally announced and adopted the New York Declaration during the Contact Group’s previous meeting on May 29, 2009 (www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/05/124107.htm). Now, nine nations have committed to put in place effective measures that make it far more difficult for their flagged vessels to be seized by pirates. Examples of the best practices, developed and implemented by all of the major international shipping industry organizations, include increasing lookouts, ensuring that ladders are raised, and readying fire pumps to repel boarders.

The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia will meet on September 10, 2009, at the United Nations. During the plenary, the United States will urge all other Contact Group participants to join in signing the New York Declaration.

The United States participates actively in the Contact Group, requires its merchant fleet to adopt and document these self-protection measures, chairs the Contact Group’s Working Group on Strengthening Shipping Self-Awareness and Other Capabilities, engages in criminally prosecuting suspected pirates, conducts naval patrols off the Horn of Africa, and provides support to NATO and European Union counter-piracy operations in those areas.

To learn more about the United States’ and international community’s response to piracy off the coast of Somalia, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/128540.htm

[Tim Drayton]

I had to translate some reports by crew members of a ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates. In one of these reports, a senior officer suggested that if ships proceeded in convoys through the Gulf of Aden with a warship accompanying each convoy then it would be impossible for pirates to attack the ships. I do not know anything about shipping but this makes a lot of sense to me.

I sometimes wonder if this is not a bit like the global trade in illegal narcotics. This trade is controlled behind the scenes by very powerful and influential people who earn so much money from it that they make sure it will never be stamped out. I wonder if these pirates are the sole beneficiaries of the huge ransoms that are being paid.