The Indian economy and Maritime piracy - how they are related, and more . . .

Published here:-

http://www.moneylife.in/article/piracy-and-sea-cargo-economy-update/22424.html

SITREP: 06may'11 - Indian Government not to negotiate with Somali pirates . . .

Let us try and analyse this dispassionately, though this is difficult after hearing the first hand accounts as well as conveyed accounts of torture and worse onboard RAK AFRIKANA and ASPHALT VENTURE, especially aimed at Indian seafarers. So, some dispassionate observations:-


1)The main negotiator on the ground in Somalia, apparently handling over a dozen ships, is the by now famous "Ali". It has been reported variously that he is of Philipino origin, and travels frequently all over, including on flights that must by geographical fact over-fly India. One way of getting hold of this person. Ofcourse, the banks that are known to support him, as well as the insurance companies, are all also located in India - and it would take just one phone call from the Ministry of Finance or the Reserve Bank of India to have them report to the authorities in Delhi.


(Interesting side observation here - for decades now, DG Shipping has been directly party to supporting the business of shipowners and their cohorts operating through tax havens, by permitting care of type of addresses especially for FOC  ships on which Indian seafarers are sent through DG Shipping channels, using the RPS companies. This, in an observation made to me by a friend in the Finance part of things, is almost like one Government department encouraging tax evasion, and then coming back to the same Government for help when things obviously go wrong. So, investigation possible - who brought about this change, of permitting "care of" kind of untraceable addresses at DG Shipping??)


2) The Government has its stated position, of not negotiating with kidnappers, hijackers, terrorists - but this has been relaxed in the past and is likely to be relaxed in the future too. This will depend a lot on a variety of factors, not least of all the public and media support, which is currently in short supply but slowly building up. The agencies, owners and Government are on the other hand trying to stress to the families that they should not go to the media, with veiled insinuations of various sorts.

(The tactic of telling the seafarers, don't go to the media, is very one-sided and selfish. What the pirates have to do to their victims, they will do, and nothing will change things. The truth, however, has a bad habit of coming out slowly but steadily. And the truth is - psychological trauma from the moment the skiff comes into sight, explosives, AK47s, RPGs, magnetic mines on shipsides, mini-submarines with torpedoes, burning, beating, flaying of skin, cutting off of balls, locking into freezers, keel-hauling, drowning, leaving naked on steel decks, hung upside down, starvation . . .and worse)


3) There is absolutely no post-release de-brief, support, analysis or even database. The approach is the same as after any, say, railway accident - disperse the people, cover up, and if too severe, make a committee for an enquiry report which is of no use. Take a look at the MSC CHITRA / KHALIJA III report, for example.

(The reason for this is simple - any post episode enquiry will force accountability - who was responsible for sending Indian seafarers through official DG Shipping channels, on to these obviously unsafe and unseaworthy ships, not equipped to fight the pirates? It will also bring out the truths on how salaries were not paid, compensation not provided, families not permitted to enter DG Shipping offices, the works.)


4) The owners / agents are safe and secure with their 10000/- rupees per head limitation of liabilities. Salaries are paid if the P&I cover or K&R cover provides for it, which is not the case in more than half the ships currently under hijack, and this includes some that were sent through DG Shipping via RPS companies/agencies. The families, therefore, know this - and keep quiet because each month's allotment amount is like so much for them.


(I have over-heard the absolutely crude and impolite way in which certain agencies and companies speak when the families call up. Maybe it is the fault of the person who picks up the phone, but is it too much to expect that the direct numbers of a senior Designated Person for Families of distressed seafarers be provided, which does not have to go through Board lines and durbans and secretaries and chowkidars and people who have no idea or concern about what is going on?)


5) DG Shipping, the truth is that more than a few families have told me how they have not been able to go past the reception desk, in Jahaz Bhavan Mumbai. Many of us can well believe this. It is easier to meet Ministers and Politicians in Delhi, and surprisingly, they had to reach the office of the Minister of Shipping in Delhi before the DG Shipping condescended to meet them - in Delhi.

(Direct appeal to Mr. S.B Agnihotri - you appear to be fresh here in DG Shipping as DG Shipping - will you wait till Crime Branch of some Police does to DG Shipping what Delhi Police Crime Branch are doing to DGCA? It is lucky that DGS is in Mumbai and there is no office in Delhi - but fact remains, please clean things up.)

6) The larger issue, of impacting India's economy, is still wide open. And the even larger issue of how working closely with FOC ships registered in tax havens worldwide has worked against the interests of Indian flag shipping as well as Indian seafarers, is a scandal and a shame that must be exposed.

More soon.

Radio programme on Somali & Indonesian Pirates . . . BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01095mf/The_Sea_Gangsters/

Absolutely chilling. Please listen and pass this on to your seafarer friends. We have been quiet too long.

The best article so far on the piracy situation in the Indian Ocean

Long read.


http://www.idaratmaritime.com/wordpress/?p=261


http://www.idaratmaritime.com/wordpress/?p=261&cpage=1#comment-10928

About the best I've read on the subject. This is not just Somalia or Puntland - this impacts the complete Indian Ocean now - and beyond. Read it!!

"Some seafarers have been beaten, some have suffered mock executions, and some—fortunately, not many—have been killed.Their plights, and that of their families anxiously awaiting news, are often overlooked when the consequences of piracy are examined.  Since the year 2003, pirates worldwide have kidnapped or taken hostage more than 4,000 seafarers.  Some seafarers who have been captured by pirates are so traumatised by their experience that they are unable to go back to sea after their release[54], while the possibility of a hijacking is one of the factors contributing to a general shortage of merchant sailors."

Lok Sabha, Parliament, and Indian Shipping . . .

Lok Sabha is where matters of great importance are discussed and often also debated. In between other episodes, of course, which many of us see on television and most of us otherwise have no information about.

Now and then some questions and answers are also handled, to do with shipping.

Here is a sample from the recent past:-

The Government has been taking various steps from time to time for the growth of Indian tonnage. These include:-

(i) In order to create level playing field for the Indian Shipping Companies with their global counter parts, the Government has introduced Tonnage Tax regime in India since the year 2004. Further, the liberalized policy on ship acquisition has been introduced and acquisition of all types of ships has been brought under Open General License (OGL). Besides, 100% FDI has been permitted in ship acquisition and registration formalities of newly acquired ships have been simplified.

(ii) The Government of India has formulated the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP). It is a comprehensive programme aimed at various issues that need to be addressed to bring holistic growth in the Indian Shipping Industry. Under the NMDP, Shipping Corporation of India, the only Public Sector Shipping Company is in the process of acquiring a total of 76 new vessels with a total outlay of approximately Rs.15,000 crores, to be completed in phases till 2015. Of these, 22 ships have already been delivered and orders have been placed for construction of another 30 vessels.
The above information was given by the Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan in Lok Sabha

So, now you know why Indian Shipping is still where it is.