EARLY in the week suspected Somali pirates attempted a daring attack on a gas and oil exploration vessel off the coast of Mtwara. The attack was thwarted by security forces, the pirates were arrested and damage was averted.
But the attack should serve as a wakeup call. The pirates have shown a certain determination to expand their areas of operations on the high seas, exposing marine security to new challenges. The fact that they could sail some 2,000 miles southwards says a lot in itself.
These are no average criminals; they seem to be good at keeping their information. They did not come all the way to Mtwara to simply try their luck, they knew exactly what they wanted and they were determined to get it.
What they did not expect, perhaps, was the fact that security would have been bolstered in the country's territorial waters. The response by security organs to the attempted attack is commendable and it might serve as a warning against any future attempts of piracy.
There are some quarters that have been labelling the pirates as some poor fishermen in search of catch. That is by no means a befitting description of the most coveted modern day criminals in the high seas. These guys are highly sophisticated.
They simply do not care what happens to the people they attack and they are driven by greed and lust for wealth. The recent attempt off the coast of Tanzania is clear testimony that they did not drift all the way from Somalia, the attack was well planned and orchestrated.
It would be an intelligence fallacy and extremely naive to brush these guys off as some lucky-go happy gun totting poor fishermen who just happen to rob ships they come across by accident. It is misplaced justification to claim that they do what they do because they are poor and have no central government in their country and people do as they please in their territorial waters.
In his address to the 66th United Nations General Assembly recently, President Jakaya Kikwete expressed concern about the problem of piracy in Tanzania's territorial waters. He noted that the problems of piracy still linger on and is expanding.
The president said that there are now increased pirate attacks taking place as far South from Somalia to as far as Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar and that since last year, when piracy activity moved south into our territorial waters 13 ships have been attacked 5 of them were hijacked.
These attacks have caused an increase in the cost of shipping. Failure at stopping the attacks they may disrupt shipping services and impact negatively on the country's economy. The seriousness of the problem was also summed up by the Minister for Transportation, Omari Nundu, when presenting his ministry's budget estimates for the 2011/12 financial year in August.
He said that piracy is a serious problem in our territorial waters because it has not only led to increased transport costs but has also scared off tourist cruise ships and cargo ships from sailing to Tanzania. In general, piracy will lead to grave consequences in the not so far future.
As the president clearly put it, Tanzania needs the support of the international community to help build capacity to fight piracy. He also said that the country welcomes any readiness to assist in improving courts and prisons to try and punish pirates. If simply a gesture was extended to build capacity to prevent attacks there would be fewer incidents of piracy or none at all.
It is important to note that the vessel that was attacked by the pirates was a gas and oil exploration ship. It is understood that a country like Tanzania needs such investors and such incidents may easily scare off the said investors.
On the one hand, it is the duty of the state to safeguard interests of investors, and the quick response demonstrated by security organs early in the week may suffice to build confidence amongst investors. It goes to show that Tanzania is capable to fight piracy and can do better given the necessary capacity.
On the other hand, investors who have crucial interests in the country's territorial waters should also see the need to assist in building the capacity to ward off piracy. That would be a win-win situation as their interests would be secured and the country would have bolstered security in its waters.
The threat of piracy is no longer imaginary, it is real and it is time that we enhance capacity of the country's navy as well as marine police to enable them patrol our waters and fight piracy. We might not see it yet, but piracy has the potential of having far reaching consequences if left unchecked.
kmtambalike@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment