Prescription for Safe Sea Lanes: A convoys present vessel operators with transit delays in
Comprehensive Strategy for Countering assembling and proceeding at the speed of their slowest
Maritime Piracy member. This makes convoying suitable for short sojourns
here there is a sea, there are pirates.” through narrow seas — like the Gulf of Aden — where
“W
— Greek Proverb limited convoy durations minimize transit delays. This
Despite the hoped-for deterrent ef- is not, however, a viable option for longer voyages — like
fect the dramatic rescue of the Maersk those required to navigate the Eastern coast of Somalia.
Alabama’s captain would engender, the illegal seizure of This requires the establishment of “safe” transit lanes.
vessels and hostages continues unabated off the Horn of The question, fi nally, arises over what to do with those
Africa. Captain Phillips’ release, moreover, punctuates apprehended in the act. The current “catch-and-release”
the failure of the current counterpiracy strategy, while program presents little in the way of deterrence. What is
bringing to the surface deep divisions between public- required is the infrastructure to support the detention,
and private-sector sailors over how to meet this threat. trial, and incarceration of these criminals. It’s here that
Civilian mariners — including Captain Phillips — con- the much maligned — at least by the U.S. — International
tend it’s the U.S. Navy’s obligation to protect American Criminal Court has a potential role to play.
merchant vessels, while the Navy counters that civilian The fi nal leg involves the creation of a shared situ-
ships have the primary responsibility for their own se- ational awareness, whereby we can know or predict the
curity. The reality is that no single organization or sec- pirates’ whereabouts. This will allow merchant vessels
tor, public or private, is wholly equipped to combat this to avoid contact and provide naval or maritime law en-
threat. Only a three-pronged strategy — undertaken col- forcement a shot at apprehension. This is only possible
lectively by the international community — that involves with the improvement, fi rst, of surveillance and recon-
target hardening, maritime screening, and shared aware- naissance capabilities and, second, of intelligence and
ness will break this criminal enterprise. information exchange. The former requires increased
The fi rst leg of a successful piracy prevention strat- capital investments; while, conversely, the latter entails
egy requires hardening merchant vessels against attack. corporate adaptation. It’s clear these capabilities are
This principally involves nonlethal actions, for example, lacking, but embryonic private structures exist for shar-
increasing speed and maneuvering merchant vessels ing maritime domain awareness. Organizations like the
unpredictably along irregular routes. While this can be International Maritime Organization, for example, can
effective, it’s costly for an industry that values economic coordinate civilian policies executed by the Interna-
effi ciency. Posting additional lookouts, creating “safe tional Maritime Bureau. International governmental
rooms,” rigging barriers, manning water cannons, and organizations, similarly, must improve mechanisms for
securing hatches are also effective defensive measure coordination and cooperation — maturing and standard-
— but these too come at a price. Finally, improved coop- izing, for example, the nascent synchronization mecha-
eration with military and law enforcement is required. nisms emerging from NATO, EU, and U.S. task forces
Least desirable, however, is lethal activities such as arm- operating off Somalia.
ing the crew or hiring armed guards. The use of force by It is clear that the current strategy of ineffectual pa-
civilians on the high seas faces a host of issues including trols, haphazard cooperation, and inadequate communi-
uncertain legal liability, undefi ned training or certifi ca- cation is not serving to deter or defeat this threat. While
tion requirements, existing international prohibitions, the nature of piracy remains unchanged, its character
and escalation or retaliation fears. These concerns make has mutated throughout history. Yesterday’s threat was
arming merchant vessels problematic at best. Regardless, in the Straits of Malacca, today’s is off the Horn of Africa,
equity and consistent of compliance in countering piracy and somewhere tomorrow’s is gestating. The holistic,
requires international conventions that mandate nonle- fl exible, and adaptive strategy outlined above is capable
thal security plans for merchant vessels. of meeting the threat wherever it emerges. It’s time to
The second leg of this strategy is maritime screening,
which falls to those nations benefi ting most from interna-
YOU CHOOSE THE WINNER
tional trade and with the greatest capabilities to eliminate
this threat. Since it is unrealistic to expect the effective pa-
Visit
www.moaa.org/essaycontest before mid-
trol of large swaths of the ocean by warships or maritime
night Nov. 30 to vote — and look for the results
patrol aircraft, the only feasible alternative is to either or-
in the January 2010 issue of Military Offi cer.
ganize protective convoys or establish “safe” transit lanes.
Members without Internet access may call (800) 234-MOAA (6622).
While highly effective at concentrating maritime security,
68 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2009
NNov_Essays.indd 68ov_Essays.indd 68 99/30/09 2:37 PM/30/09 2:37 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96