Pakistan with a coast of more than 500 nautical miles is on the crossroads of piracy prone zones of Arabian and Indian oceans, and is affecting trade routes on either side but efforts are being made to safeguard the routes and the valuable floating assets with seafarers onboard.
This was observed by speakers at the celebratory event of World Maritime Day organised by the National Centre for Maritime Policy and Research at the Bahria University on Thursday. This year, the World Maritime Day theme is ‘Piracy: Orchestrating the Response’. In his speech, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) Director Commercial Captain Aftabuddin Siddiqui stated that the recent Djibouti Protocol signed by states neighbouring the Gulf of Aden is a significant step towards this problem.
“The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conference in October this year will be another significant effort,” he said. “The IMO’s six-pronged action plan revolves appropriately on safeguarding the interests of the maritime industry, providing care to the affected seafarers and their families, generating greater anti-piracy cooperation and building the desired capacity to deter, capture and prosecute.”
Delivering the welcome address, National Centre for Maritime Policy Research (NCMPR) Director General Rear Admiral Pervaiz Asghar said that the world economy is in shambles and the shipping sector, closely intertwined with world economy and political stability, is no exception and has been equally affected. Rising fuel costs, turmoil in oil producing countries and greatest of all is the menace of piracy which itself is costing billion of dollars to the world, he added.
“While innocent seafarers bear the brunt of these crimes, the world economy suffers too – with more than 12 percent of the total volume of oil transported by sea flowing through piracy-infested waters – the annual cost to the economy is now estimated to be between 7 billion and 12 billion US dollars.” Citing a recent study, the NCMPR director said that during 2010 alone, 4,185 seafarers were attacked by pirates; 1,090 were taken hostage; and 516 were used as human shields. No fewer than 488 reportedly suffered significant psychological or physical abuse, according to the statistics.
“Various nations including the US has authorised the use of armed guards onboard [ships], but the world has yet to come up with a mechanism and workable way.”
