Gvt must tackle sealane piracy

Date: 21 November 2008

The Maritime Union is calling on the Australian Government to act decisively in the face of the increasing number and severity of pirate attacks on international shipping.

"It is only a matter of time until an Australian seafarer is killed in an act of piracy.

" The Government must do everything in its powers to ensure the safety of the men and women working these dangerous sea routes. They are having to run an increasingly dangerous gauntlet just to do their jobs, facing massive stress and the possibility of severe violence or death," MUA Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman says.

"Inaction is sending a dangerous message to the pirates, encouraging them to launch ever more audacious attacks with potentially highly lucrative results."

"These attacks are not restricted to the waters around Africa. The International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre (IMBPRC) reports that Indonesia ranks third on the list of piracy hot spots after Somalia and Nigeria. Many Australian vessels, including our crucial LNG ships, ply these routes regularly."

"The Government needs to commit diplomatic and aid efforts to ending the scourge of piracy. In our region, consideration needs to be given to the use of Naval power to ensure sea lanes are safe. Coordinated international action, including efforts to achieve political settlements in nations where piracy is rife, would seem the only way to counter these increasingly desperate and violent attacks."

"More than 99 per cent of our exports are transported by sea. International shipping is the lifeblood of the global economy and the seafarers who work onboard these ships must have some guarantees they will not be treated as pawns in a dangerous game of cat and mouse between ship owners and armed pirates," Mr Doleman says.

The MUA endorses the call from the International Transport Federation to commit resources to a coordinated United Nations effort to restore safe navigation of the high seas, to enhance Security Council resolutions dealing with penalties for organised crime gangs and to create a new international legal jurisdiction.

199 attacks were reported to the IMBPRC in the first nine months of this year alone.

These include 115 vessels boarded, 31 vessels hijacked, and 23 vessels fired upon. A total of 581 crewmembers were taken hostage, nine kidnapped, nine killed and seven missing - presumed dead. These numbers predate the dramatic surge in recent months.

Media Contact

To speak with Wayne Finch, who was on board an Australian ship attacked by pirates off the coast of Singapore, please call Keiller MacDuff 0432 828 006

For further information

Contact:	Mick Doleman, Assistant National Secretary
Union:	MUA
Contact Mobile:	0418 391 528
WWW:	http://mua.org.au/

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