Standard Club Piracy Update
GULF OF ADEN / SOMALI BASIN - INDIAN OCEAN - NIGERIA - FAR EAST
15 January 2010
Please use the link on the right hand side of the page to read our latest update and precautionary measures that can be adopted by members to minimise the risk of piracy attacks.
This advice follows the update given by the Standard Club in November 2009 (which is still, in general terms, valid), where we advised that with the ending of the South West Monsoon in September there was likely to be an increase in piracy activity. After a quiet period during the northern summer months, pirate activity significantly increased in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin / Indian Ocean areas.
The Standard Club strongly recommends that all owners implement and adopt the Best Management Practice. This should not only be for ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and Somali basin sea areas but also in other parts of the Indian Ocean – certainly as far east as 65 deg E.
Best Management Practice remains the best advice available to combat piracy when a ship transits a high risk area.
The guidelines have been developed by industry and naval forces. Using these guidelines and with the guidance available from the MSC(HOA) web site, a ship should be better prepared to transit these sea areas.
The Best Management Practice document is available on the Standard Club web site http://www.standard-club.com/docs/BMPAugust2009.pdf , from the MSC(HOA) web site and from many industry bodies. A copy should be available onboard all ships and form part of the ship’s anti- piracy contingency plans.
Recent activity in the Gulf of Aden region indicates that the pirates may be now more effective. The use of mother ships will continue and the range of the pirates has been extended to well over 1,000 miles from the Somali coastline. The advice from the MSC(HOA) is that ships should still stay clear of the Somali coast by over 600 nautical miles if possible, and ideally sail east of 60 deg East and south of 10 deg South. Vigilance is required within the Indian Ocean as a whole. In addition, there have been reported attacks occurring just to the north of the Comoros Islands. This is the furthest south that pirate’s attacks have been carried out.
Almost all industry bodies have advised in the strongest terms that all ships should implement the procedures in the Best Management Practice. It is shown that the best defence for an attacked ship is to use the knowledge in the Best Management Practice. We recommend members should:
- comply with the Best Management Practice
- register with the MSC(HOA) ; UKMTO
- comply with the suggested reporting in advice
- participate with group transits if applicable for the ship
- carry out drills and practice before sailing in a high risk area
Please use the download link on the right titled Standard Club Piracy Upadate January 2010 for a full review by Chris Spencer, Director of Loss Prevention.