Call for more action on Somalia pirates

Shipping organizations are calling for sustained coordination between all naval forces operating in the area around the Gulf of Aden because of the increase in piracy in the region.

Meeting at the International Maritime Organization at the invitation of IMO Secretary General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, members of the so-called Shipping Round Table -- BIMCO, ICS/ISF, INTERCARGO and INTERTANKO -- and the International Transport Workers' Federation said there has been an alarming deterioration of the situation -- both in the number of attacks, hijackings and hostage takings off Somalia, and the ferocity with which they are carried out.An estimated 13 vessels and more than 200 seafarers are reportedly in the hands of pirates.

There were reports Friday morning that Somali pirates hijacked another merchant ship carrying cement in the Indian Ocean bound for Oman.

IMO said 12 percent of world crude oil passes through the Gulf of Aden.

There is a need for clear rules of engagement that would enable military assets to intervene effectively to protect shipping; and for an extension, for an adequate duration, of the mandate given in United Nations Security Council resolution 1816 (2008) enabling states co-operating with the transitional federal government of Somalia to enter the country's territorial waters and use all necessary means to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, consistent with relevant international law, IMO said. That mandate is due to expire in December, six months after the adoption of the resolution on June 2.

It's unclear whether current piracy incidents are anywhere near resolution.

China's Xinghua agency on Friday morning quoted local media as saying pirates holding an abducted arms-laden Ukrainian ship moored off northeastern Somalia said they will fight against any attempt to rescue the ship and its 20 crewmembers.

It quoted Ali Sugule, leader of the pirates, as saying any attempt to rescue the ship, which is carrying 33 Russian made T-72 tanks, small weapons and ammunitions, would be catastrophic.

That's a sharp change from earlier in the week when the New York Times ran a headline that said, Somali pirates said to be near arms cargo deal.