The
piracy problem: limited solutions
Posted Sunday, 5 December, 16:27
By Christian Le Mière, Research Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security
Piracy
and maritime security have been a constant theme throughout the Manama Dialogue.
Every plenary session has mentioned the issue, while the presence of various
naval delegations and the ongoing international deployments in the western
Indian Ocean means that, beyond Iran, it has proved a hot topic of the
conference.
Much has
been made of the opportunity the naval deployments offer for military
collaboration. However, notably lacking is any change in thinking on the topic
or any new ideas of how to solve the problem. There is a well-worn recognition
that the problem ultimately lies on land, but given that that land is Somalia,
no-one is eager to secure the notoriously unstable country.
The focus on piracy also means little attention
has been paid to maritime terrorism. Given that the US Department of Transport
confirmed two weeks ago that damage to the Japanese tanker, the M Star,
near the Strait of Hormuz in July was the result of a suicide attack, this
omission might seem surprising. Yet, given that attempted pirate attacks off
the coast of Somalia have reached a record level this year, it seems the
regional and international navies have enough to deal with in the short term.
