How
Different Countries 
Have Reacted to Piracy
How
Different Countries
"Eric Ellen, executive director of the Essex-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), says that the lack of official concern from governments is "very worrying". Moreover, few crews are trained to deal with a pirate attack and fewer still travel under respected flags. Many ships are actually registered under flags of convenience. It is often cheaper and relatively easy to register a ship in Panama or Liberia, with fewer safety and training restrictions, than in the UK or another developed country. But according to Ellen: "Your flag is your only protection out there - and Panama doesn't mean much to a pirate." Furthermore, countries such as Panama don't have the resources to pursue detailed piracy investigations."1
Because the enforcement of International Maritime Protection against acts
of piracy is limited, some countries have taken matters into their own
hands. "The tourist-conscious Greek government recently sent gunboats to
discourage Albanian pirates from crossing the 3 km Corfu Channel to prey
on yachts around the island."2
In addition, "the continued rise in piracy prompted the Singapore Maritime
Authority to release two separate advisories regarding "preventative actions
to take against sea robbery and piracy". The first advisory was issued
on January 15, 1999, followed by another on January 18, 1999."3
On the other hand, there was no help for the Singapore freighter Hye Mieko
when it was stopped before it reached its Cambodian destination two years
ago by what appeared to be a Chinese customs cutter. "The owner, William
Tay, spotted his 1,606-tonne ship from a small plane as the vessel and
its cargo of cigarettes was forced to sail more than 1,600 km through international
waters to Shanwei, in south China. The Chinese authorities denied any knowledge
of the cutter, and so it was assumed that it was manned by pirates. But
although the Hye Mieko's plight was broadcast worldwide, not a single vessel
came to its aid. On arrival in China, the ship was impounded, the cargo
sold and owner Tay charged with intending to smuggle cigarettes into China,
where contraband is a problem. "Navies were reluctant to intervene because
of
the power of China," says Eric Ellen, executive director of the Essex-based
IMB."4
Ships at sea have the protection of the flag under which they are flying,
but "many owners save money and avoid regulation by registering their vessels
under flags of convenience in states such as Panama or Honduras which haven't
the capability to
respond to pirates. Combined with the
reluctance of navies to interfere and the general confusion since countries
have begun
extending their territorial waters to
200 nautical miles, this has left the seas wide open. "Piracy is going
to get worse, because it's
so easy," says Ellen of the IMB."5
Yet it needn't be. "Several years ago Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore decided that piracy in the Malacca Straits was out of hand, particularly after a fully laden tanker was left by pirates to steam for 20 minutes down a narrow channel with no one in control. When the states coordinated and toughened their policing, the attacks dropped sharply. Says IMB director Pottengal Mukundan: "Historically, it's when governments decide to step in that piracy has been brought under control." That time seems to have come again."6
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