To combat the illicit flows of money linked to Somali piracy
During this week BIMCO is meeting with national and international experts in organised crime, financial intelligence and financial services to explore options for combating the illicit flows of money inextricably linked to Somali piracy.
Chaired by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime and held in East Africa, the meetings constitute an important forum for BIMCO to be part of to help ensure that the interests of ship owners – and not least seafarers – are properly reflected when financial counter-piracy strategies are discussed.
BIMCO would emphasise that from a ship owner’s perspective, the safety of the crew should always take precedence over co-operation with law enforcement agencies during and after a hijack.
Maritime piracy has drastically transformed itself from an outmoded, criminal activity, crafted by generations of authors and film makers into romantic legends, to a serious threat to global human and economic security. One of the driving forces behind this rapid expansion – both in terms of piracy attacks and the associated financial flows – has been the large ransoms.The phenomenon has now evolved, however, and is no longer the province of amateurs.
The increasing sophistication and organization that pirate groups have exhibited in recent attacks suggest that piracy is evolving in structure and nature. This therefore demands that methods for combating piracy should address not only shipborne self defence measures and military interdiction of pirate vessels but the structure of the organised criminal groups and networks themselves and the financial flows that they generate.
Tracing illicit financial flows linked to piracy off the coast of Somalia is particularly difficult, for there are almost no means of tracking them until they get out of Somalia.
Source: BIMCO
