Governments have ceded control of the Indian Ocean to pirates and the small deployment of naval forces to the region is like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound – so said ICS Chairman Spyros M Polemis at today’s Maritime Cyprus conference in Limassol (October 3rd).

And in a damning indictment of western governments, Mr Polemis controversially suggested they would be acting differently if the many seafarers held hostage off the coast of Somalia were “Americans or Europeans”.

Mr Polemis told shipping professionals: “The fundamental problem is the lack of navy ships that are committed to protecting shipping – a band aid on a gaping wound, although the navies do an excellent job under the circumstances and we commend them for this.”

In a straight-talking speech Mr Polemis told delegates that “by their own admission, the military advise that no ship is completely safe”. He said: “Sadly, one can only conclude from the current response of many governments that those thousands of seafarers that have so far been captured have simply had the wrong nationality. If they were all Americans or Europeans, the governments’ attitude might have been somewhat different. It is really unacceptable that so many governments seem to feel that the current situation can somehow be tolerated, and that a box has been ticked by making a relatively small number of navy ships available to police Somalia’s waters and the entire Indian Ocean.”

Apologising for his “depressing” remarks he concluded: “We appreciate that governments have many competing priorities, but I am afraid that they still seem to be lacking a coherent strategy to tackle the pirates head on.”

While acknowledging that adherence to Best Management Practices and the use of private armed guards can both reduce the risks of capture, Mr Polemis said that the escalating use of armed guards represents a failure by the international community to find an effective solution to the situation and calls for an increase in military force deployed to the Indian Ocean.

“I do wish to stress that, despite acknowledging their use, private armed guards do not represent a long term solution. Rather, their use actually signifies a failure on the part of the international community – and those governments with significant military forces – to ensure the security of maritime trade on which the whole world depends. Governments don’t like it when we say this, but the reality is that they have ceded control of the Indian Ocean to the pirates.” He continued: “The use of private guards does not mean that military forces are no longer needed. Far from it – they are needed more than ever and should be greatly increased in number.”

ICS is in close contact with both EUNAVFOR and NATO discussing practical solutions to the problems in the Indian Ocean including a possible blockade of the Somali coast and tackling pirate ‘motherships’. ICS is also in discussion with Flag States to ensure they take a coherent pan-industry approach to producing a proper framework for the use of armed guards.

Seafarers’ rights in the Isle of Man have taken a significant step forward after a “Declaration of Principles” agreement was signed which gives seafarers serving on Isle of Man-registered ships better living and employment conditions and pay.

Formalising years of hard work to protect seafarers’ interests, the Isle of Man Ship Registry has signed a tripartite agreement between the Isle of Man Government, the Isle of Man Shipping Association and the seafarers’ representative unions.

The “Declaration of Principles”, originally agreed and signed in 2003, has been revised to include recent international developments, taking a big leap towards protecting the lives of seafarers.

The Declaration recognises the importance of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) which will be the new standard enforced globally to cover the rights of seafarers. Keeping pace with the progress, the Isle of Man is working towards its adoption when MLC enters into force in 2012.

Dick Welsh, Director of the Isle of Man Ship Registry, said: “The tripartite relationship, which has been developed over many years in the Isle of Man, is invaluable in our work on the new convention. It is a forum by which we can consult on draft policies and regulations, which gives the ship owners and the unions a real chance to shape the future for seafarers.”

The Isle of Man Ship Registry has been gradually expanding its presence in Asia in the past few years as it continues to pledge its commitment to the region. From this year, the flag’s first contract surveyors are now fully operational in Singapore and Manila.

The ship registry is now looking to set up a similar operation in Shanghai to serve the growing base of owners in the region in recognition of that port’s significant growth as a maritime centre in recent years.

Geoff Hutcheon is the surveyor based in Singapore and fronting the office in Manila is Captain Von Conrad Nobleza. Both will be covering the statutory requirements for ISM/ISPS/ILO and Flag State Inspections (FSI) on merchant vessels – predominantly in the Asia Pacific region.
The Isle of Man Ship Registry is also looking to expand its scope of services to include marketing and promotional activities, registration services, and Port State Control follow-up inspections as well as providing ad hoc consultancy services to owners.

At the end of August 2011, the Isle of Man register stands at 13.10 million tons, a new high for the register. New registrations are continuing at a steady rate adding a further 38 commercial vessels to its register since the start of the year.

Germany plans to lobby other European Union countries to allow the deployment of private armed guards on their merchant ships in high-risk areas as a piracy crisis escalates, ministry officials said.

But analysts said the initiative was likely to face legal and practical difficulties. Somali piracy is costing the world economy billions of dollars a year, and international navies are stretched to combat the menace in the Indian Ocean due to the vast distances involved. In desperation, more shipping companies are considering deploying private armed guards on their vessels, Reuters reported.

The German government is looking into changing the country’s weapons laws to allow security personnel to bear firearms on ships in high-risk areas. It could also certify those private security companies that could be used on merchant vessels, a government official said.

“Our goal is to develop a coordinated approach to be presented at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in September, and EU governments are the main partners to bring on board,” said Jan Gerd Becker-Schwering with the German economy ministry. “To go this alone would not be beneficial.”

The European Union said allowing private armed guards on merchant vessels was a decision to be made on a national level, adding that ships should have best management practices (BMP) in place, including measures to prevent pirates from getting onboard and to protect crew members.

“The implementation and execution of these BMPs, however, is the responsibility of the ship owners,” an EU spokesman said. “These private security contractors operate under the law of the flag state.”

Separately the IMO said such a move was up to national governments but warned of a potential escalation in violence. “IMO does not endorse the use of privately contracted armed security personnel on board ships … and operators should take into account the possible escalation of violence,” the UN’s maritime agency said.

J. Peter Pham, with the Atlantic Council think tank, said the German plan could encounter legal setbacks, both domestically and abroad.

“Despite the apparent reasonableness of the German proposal, it will face several hurdles,” Mr Pham said. “It needs to pass both houses of the German parliament, where there will be opposition from the left, which tends to look askance on (what politicians tend to view as) ‘mercenaries’.”

He said it could prove difficult to convince foreign port authorities to allow armed groups into harbours.

“Even if Chancellor (Angela) Merkel’s government gets the necessary laws enacted, it will be an uphill battle to convince the authorities in ports to allow the security teams in, much less to get other countries, especially in Europe, to follow.”

International Chamber of Shipping Secretary General Peter Hinchliffe said the German plan was helpful in setting a precedent for approving armed guards in flags where they were not currently allowed.

“But it must not create a mechanism for governments to abrogate their responsibility under UNCLOS to protect trade routes,” he said, referring to an international convention that tasks nation states with tackling piracy on the high seas. German ship owners’ association VDR said private armed guards were a “second-best solution” to deploying police or military forces. The German government has ruled this out. “Using sovereign forces would not only pose financial and capacity problems, but we could only use them on ships that sail under the German flag,” Becker-Schwering said.

As many as 60% to 80% of ship owners are in favour of arming their vessels even though the cost can be as high as $50,000 per passage, a leading Danish ship owner has claimed.

“We took the decision three to four months ago that we could not defend our ships without contracting-in armed guards with light machine guns and who will shoot back,” said Per Gullestrup, CEO & Partner of Clipper Ferries/Ro-Ro.

“I hear that 60% to 80% of owners are in favour of arming their ships, which is a lot, and if you figure out that every time you do, it costs an owner between $30K and $50K to put armed guards on each passage then you are talking about a lot of money,” he said.

Mr Gullestrup has built up first hand knowledge of dealing with pirates after he negotiated with Somali pirates over the release of the CEC Future back in 2008. Pirates held the CEC Future for 71 days, and only released the ship after negotiations and the payment of a ransom of nearly DKK 9 million.

Per Gullestrup was heavily involved in negotiating with the pirates in 2008. A Somali pirate now faces a 25 year prison sentence in the US after he was convicted. “Despair is a good word,” to describe the way ship owners feel about the whole piracy issue, he told SMI.

“It is a hard word but there are times in a quiet moment when you say, look what is going on here. It is 2011 and we are five years into this and we are still being run around by a bunch of criminals because that is all they are – extortionists, murderers and criminals. And even the largest naval powers in the world haven’t been able to do anything about it and they won’t until we do something fundamentally ashore in Somalia. Until then, we will not solve this problem,” he said.

“We now have the monsoon season and this will have a strong reflection on the level of activities going on. But even when the monsoon settles down, I suspect you will see a lot of the ships being armed now. But what will that do to the equation? Hopefully it will put a dampener on activities but it won’t solve anything. Because the pirates might start to lose too much money and the investors will stop getting the returns they want, they will retrench and ease off. The naval forces will then say the situation is better and the pirates will be back in action and we will be back where we started. We as ship owners are very frustrated. If this kind of criminal activity happened anywhere else on this scale something would have been done about it but 94% of the seafarers involved in this are from developing countries and that is the reason. If the 94% of seafarers were from Europe or the US, I guarantee we would not have been talking about it now. It is a disgrace,” he added.

Netherlands-based Marco Polo Seatrade BV, a company managed by Seaarland Shipping Management BV, has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 reorganisation in the Southern District of New York in the US.

The company believes that the Chapter 11 filing will help it complete a restructuring process designed to restore the company to long-term financial health. To help facilitate this restructuring, associated companies Seaarland Shipping Management BV, Magellano Marine CV and Cargoship Maritime BV have also begun co-ordinated Chapter 11 proceedings. Vessel operations and management services provided by the companies will meanwhile continue in the ordinary course of business.

As a result of the Chapter 11 filings, all creditor actions throughout the world, including any attempts to enforce claims against the companies’ vessels, are automatically enjoined from proceeding while the companies reorganise their businesses.

The Chapter 11 filings are part of a long-term restructuring initiated in 2010 when the companies were hit by a sudden and dramatic drop in the shipping markets. During the past 12 months, enormous progress has been made as part of a commercially driven restructuring process but, notwithstanding important goals being reached, certain companies’ senior lenders unilaterally reversed their support for these restructuring efforts and started enforcement actions. The companies were therefore compelled to initiate Chapter 11 proceedings to halt those actions and to ensure the uninterrupted operation of vessels and services to their customers.

The companies are disappointed in the lenders’ unexplained reversal of support but remain positive in their belief that the steps taken will be of benefit to all their creditors, including the senior lenders.

The companies want to assure their customers and suppliers that Marco Polo Seatrade and associated entities will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business during the Chapter 11 proceedings and that other affiliated entities such as Seaarland (Singapore), Seaarland (Hamburg), Seaarland (Mumbai), Global Tanker, SynerGas and Motia have not filed for Chapter 11 protection and will continue in the ordinary course of business

The Chapter 11 filings include the following vessels: Montiron, Diana, Laura, Beth, Louise, Meg.

Seaarland’s principal legal adviser for the restructuring process and Chapter 11 proceedings is Bracewell and Giuliani LLP.

Port health inspectors at the Port of Southampton are to join industrial action taking place across the city, in defiance of plans from the local Conservative-led council to force municipal workers into pay cuts.

According to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the council intends to issue all municipal workers with dismissal letters and new contracts to be signed within a 90-day deadline, or face termination of their employment.

Workers represented by the ITF-affiliated unions Unite and Unison are taking industrial action. This includes port health inspectors, who are responsible for issuing health certificates to all ships using the port, in addition to checking food imports arriving into the UK.

The ITF has informed its inspectors to notify their local port state controls of any incoming cruise ships which have left the Port of Southampton without a health certificate.

Port unions are also to be informed of any such vessels, after the ITF claimed some cruise ships are planning to break the strike by leaving port without a health certificate, with the aim of receiving one in their next port.