The Asian Shipowners’ Forum (ASF) Safe Navigation & Environment Committee (SNEC)
The Asian Shipowners’ Forum (ASF) Safe Navigation & Environment Committee (SNEC) has urged the UN and governments to take decisive actions against the growing piracy problem.
A SNEC meeting held in Singapore last Friday called on the UN to establish an anti-piracy military task force consisting of armed military guards that can be deployed in small detachments onboard merchant ships.
So far this year, Somali pirates attached 163 ships, hijacked 21 and took 361 seafarers hostage.
“The safety and welfare of our seafarers and their families must remain of utmost importance. Discounting the economic cost of anywhere between $3.5bn to $8bn a year, we cannot ignore the lasting physical and psychological trauma suffered by our seafarers at the hands of these merciless outlaws,” said Patrick Phoon, chairman of SNEC.
“We emphasise that governments must have the political will to firmly address this pressing problem,” said Phoon, who is also deputy managing director at Evergreen Shipping.
The committee urged individual flag states to offer clear and concise guidelines on the use of privately contracted armed security providers which have been duly vetted and accredited by the relevant flag states.
Source: Seatrade Asia