Over 3,500 seafarers have been kidnapped and held hostage
The number of seafarers who have died as a direct result of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean has mounted to 62 in the past four years, according to figures released by the SOS Save Our Seafarers campaign.
SOS notes that the deaths have occurred through: “deliberate murder by pirates, suicide during the period of captivity, death from malnutrition and disease, death by drowning, or heart failure just after the hijacking.”
It also points out that over 3,500 seafarers have been kidnapped and held hostage over this period, many suffering the trauma of being used as human shields, forced to operate their ship as a pirate mother ship, and subject to extreme mental and physical anguish. Some have also experienced beatings and torture, such as being hung over the side of the ship.
Following release of these figures on the effects of piracy, SOS, which was launched on 1 March and is backed by all sides of the shipping industry, including ITF, plans “to give even greater emphasis to its worldwide call for government action to tackle the issue”.
Somali pirates currently hold captive around 23 vessels and 439 hostages, according to figures compiled by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Hostages include seven Indian seafarers from the Asphalt Venture still held captive despite the payment of a ransom in April.
Other recent incidents reported to the IMB’s worldwide Piracy Reporting Centre include:
- Robbers boarded a refrigerated cargo vessel anchored at Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo on three occasions on 23 June and stole ship’s stores.
- Robbers boarded a bulk carrier anchored at Surabaya, Indonesia on 23 June and escaped with ship’s stores.
- A skiff approached and chased a chemical tanker 15 nautical miles west of Trivandrum, India on 18 June, but the tanker increased speed, altered course, sounded the alarm and took anti-piracy measures. A short time later, a skiff approached another chemical tanker 30 nautical miles off Trivandrum. The tanker enforced anti-piracy measures, sent an alert and a naval helicopter arrived at the scene.
- Robbers boarded a cargo ship anchored at Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela on 18 June, took a watchman hostage at knifepoint and stole ship’s stores.
- A robber armed with a knife boarded a refrigerated cargo vessel anchored at Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo on 18 June but escaped empty handed when he was detected.
- Four robbers armed with knives boarded a container ship anchored at Georgetown, Guyana on 17 June, took the bo’sun hostage, stole ship’s property and escaped.
- A skiff with five armed pirates approached a cargo ship 42 nautical miles off Eritrea in the Red Sea on 16 June but moved away after the onboard armed security team fired warning shots.
Source: ITF Seafarers