Fighting Piracy
Somali pirates at sea and ashore. "The government cordially welcomes the United Nations to fight pirates inland and (on) the Indian Ocean," said Hussein Mohamed Mohamud, spokesman for President Abdullahi Yusuf. Burnett says piracy thrives in Somalia because government and the rule of law does not. Burnett worked for the United Nations relief effort in Somali, managing the port of Kismayu. Today, he says, piracy is Somalia's fastest growing industry. The pirates have little to lose and much to gain. "They can make $30,000 or $40,000 for twenty minutes work. There's a long waiting list of young lads hoping to get chosen to be a pirate. It's the best job in town." The pirates used to be fishermen. Poachers came into their fishing grounds and depleted the fish stocks, and so, the pirates claim, they began to detain those outsiders. This soon escalated to demands of ransom. When that seemed to be successful, the pirated turned to bigger prey and larger ransom demands. Piracy is no longer about the poor Somali fishermen trying to protect their COLUMN fishing grounds. It is organized crime. Entire villages can be involved, from fixing boats and preparing food to serving as guards once a vessel is taken. Still, fishing is a way of life for Somalis, as is carrying weapons for protection against thugs and pirates. "The only difference between a pirate and a fishing boat is the presence of ladders," says Canadian Forces Rear Adm. Bob Davidson, who commanded CTF 150 from April until October of 2008. "They all have guns."
Resources for Mariners on Piracy
� Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 established near the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, conducts Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
http://www.cusnc.navy.mil/command/ctf150.html
� The Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa), run by the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) is a Coordination Centre tasked to safeguard merchant shipping operating in the region by preventing and deterring acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, off the Horn of Africa and in the Somali Basin. The site provides information and guidance for the shipping community.
http://www.mschoa.eu/
About the Author Captain Edward Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) is a senior science advisor with Alion Science and Technology in Washington, D.C.
� The International Maritime Bureau has established the 24 hour IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to be the first point of contact for the shipmaster to report an actual or attempted attack or even suspicious movements thus initiating the process of response. The PRC raises awareness within the shipping industry, which includes the shipmaster, shipowner, insurance companies, traders, etc, of the areas of high risk associated with piratical attacks or specific ports and anchorages associated with armed robberies on board ships.
http://www.iccccs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30&Itemid=12
� The NATO Shipping Centre is to support information exchange between the military and commercial shipping communities and to support military commanders.
http://www.shipping.nato.int/
FINANCE
Operating Costs Surge
(Continued from page 21)
The largest increases in crew wages within this sector were observed in Handysize and Panamax bulkers at 3.8%. For tankers the largest increase in crew wages again this year was Product tankers with a steep 18% increase, followed by Panamax tankers with a 12.9% increase. Handysize and Aframax tankers witnessed more modest increases, averaging 4.6%, while Suzemax and VLCC tankers rose by 7.9%. Container ships had the largest increases this year amongst all vessels types. Bigger container ships of 2,0006,000 TEU experienced an increase of 32.2% in crew wages, followed by Container Feedermax vessels with a sizeable 22.6% year-on-year increase. This year there were no reductions in crew wage costs, but Ro-Ros, Dry Cargo and Reefers saw bigger increases, in contrast to last year's modest movements, amounting to 23.2%, 11.5% and 4.9% respectively.
Lubricants
For a second consecutive year this catJanuary 2009
egory of cost experienced the largest overall increase in OpCost. It seems that the full effect of the oil price increases impacted operating costs in 2007, much as it did in 2006, and is reflected in the exceptional increase in luboil costs. The extent of the increases varies across the vessel types. The largest increase this year was in Ro-Ros, followed by Panamax tankers and Reefers at 36%, 34.9% and 32.7% respectively. Bulk carriers ranged from 20.7% to 28.2% experienced by Handysize bulkers and Capesize bulkers respectively. Tankers, with the exception of Panamax vessels which saw the highest increase at 34.9%, ranged from a 22.4% increase in Product tankers to 26.1% in Handysize product tankers. Dry Cargo saw an increase of 24.4%, down from the previous year's increase of 30.4%. In the container ship sector, the biggest increase occurred in the smallest tonnage with Container Feedermax taking the lead with an increase of 19.5%. Container Ship and Container Main Liner settled in second position with an average
increase of 9.9%.
Repairs and Maintenance
This year repairs and maintenance again saw significant cost increases. However, there are noticeable differences in the cost variances experienced between vessel types. In dry bulk, the roles this year have reversed for Handysize and Handymax bulkers. The largest increase is in Handysize bulkers at 18.2%, whilst in contrast, the second smallest increase is in Handymax bulkers at 12.5%. Overall the smallest increase for bulkers was seen in Capesize bulkers at just 4.1%. For tanker tonnage, in contrast to last year, the increase in cost was more marked than for bulkers, with the most significant increase being Aframax tankers at 17.1%, whilst the Handysize product and VLCC tanker types saw more modest increases of 6.9% and 5.2% respectively. Dry Cargo vessels and Container Feedermax rose by 25.5% and 26.8% respectively, while Container Main Liner saw the smallest increase among
all the vessels at a marginal 1.7%. RoRos and Reefers were significantly higher than the previous year at 10.8% and 13.3% respectively.
Insurance
This category of cost experienced the most modest overall increase in comparison to the previous year's figures. There was a widespread variation in costs, with Handysize product tanker experiencing the smallest increase of 0.9% and the largest being 14.4% for Dry Cargo vessels. All categories of bulkers experienced increases, with the smaller tonnage this year again recording the highest increase of around 10%. For tankers, all categories experienced increases. The highest this year was VLCCs at 7.5%, followed by Product tankers at 5.6%. Container ships varied from 3.6% with the smaller tonnage to 6.8% for the two bigger tonnage categories, Container Ship and Container Main Liner. In other categories of vessel, the largest increases were in Ro-Ros at 11.2% and Reefers at 10.7%.
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