An article on piracy and steps on board from January 2011

This was first submitted for publication in SAILOR TODAY in January 2011, and is even more valid today, so here goes, repeated . . .

+++

It is now about time that a simple demand be made by seafarers working on Indian flag ships - that a contingent of Indian Navy personnel be carried onboard all our ships operating in blue waters between Aden, Singapore and the Southern Indian Ocean. Attacks within Indian Economic Zone as well as not too far from the oil exploration areas are now becoming commonplace, and before tragedy strikes or they become another accepted danger of being at sea, a strong, message needs to be sent across clearly that any Indian merchant ship is going to not just be safe in Indian waters but also respond vigorously internationally.

It has also to be stated and is an open secret that more than a few foreign shipping companies are openly carrying armed personnel on board, and the crew as well as officers onboard are certainly benefitting from this, lifeboat capacity and other minor issues be damned. It is easy for those sitting in their little ivory towers in Mumbai and Delhi to pontificate on rights of innocent passage - what do they know, many of them have armed guards to protect their petty little backsides the moment they step out of their offices.

So what are seafarers supposed to do, then, about this reality? Especially for those sailing under the Indian flag . . .

1) Insist with your shipowners that they provide armed guards onboard in case the vessel is trading Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean. The current defined danger area is bounded by the Indian coast, Arab coast and African coast as well as 15 degrees South and about 78 degrees East already, as per a NATO report. Look on a map, and see how far this gets us?

2) Insist on vastly increased levels of personal insurance and danger pay. There has to be at least 15-20 years worth of salary, protected by inflation, as insurance. In addition, triple pay, at least. This is the least that people who are putting their lives on the line need, and close to keeping in line with much lesser than what those in the Armed Forces get.

3) Make this point very clear during the revalidation classes, as well as every possible interaction with the company ashore, preferably in writing. Take the trouble to get in touch with the Union, MUI or NUSI, both have been very pro-active of late, and there is every reason to cooperate with them - especially Mr. Abdul Gani Sarang, whose doors are always open, as personal experience shows.

4) Reach out to the media, print and television, and let them know what you feel. Get on to the internet, blogs and all, including photos. Write to your elected representative, Ministry, and others. File pre-emptive RTIs. The pen is your strongest weapon, and the keyboard a force multiplier.

At the end of the day, WE shall have to make our voice heard, and dignity as well as safety restored. The pirates, such as they are, don't dare venture near Israeli flag ships, as well as ships of some companies they know are carrying armed personnel on board - about time they ran and turned tail when they see the Indian red ensign too.

Veeresh Malik

Actual email received wrt piracy off Indian Coast

Here's an email from a friend onboard an Indian flag ship sailing India to Red Sea, left East Coast, stuck close to the west Coast but then struck out towards the Gulf of Aden . . .

+++


dear veeresh,

left indian shores on 2/03.

managed to thwart piracy attack on us on 3/03  evenning abt 260 miles off goa.
had two crafts one  on port bow sailing parrallel to us other approaching from
stbd side managed to ivade by altering to port n increasing cpa to more than 2
miles. more than ten guys on deck of the boat.

tdy morning joinrd  naval convoy in gulf of aden. proud to be in cnvoy led by 
ins talwar.

convoy is from entrance of gulf of aden to 100 miles short of babel mandap.

cheers

SAVE OUR SEAFARERS / (SAVE OUR SAILORS) / SOS

Here's a link to an article on the experiences of the South Korean captain of a ship hijacked by the Somali pirates, and used as a "mother ship" to capture other ships.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/02/16/58/0301000000AEN20110216006600315F.HTML

Suffice it to say, the piracy issue gets worse for seafarers by the hour, without much being done in the real sense of the word - especially for those sailing on FOC / Open Register ships.

So what should we do?

Watch this space.

As part of a SAILOR TODAY initiative, we will be launching an initiative, very soon.

SAVE OUR SEAFARERS. Really. SOS.

eMail to a batchmate who agrees to have me on board as his 2nd Mate

Hey V___, hug the coast, and all the best, as a cadet/2nd mate in SST
and then Arya Lines, I still remember the bets on how close we could
go to the coast that J___, K____ and I would have - also racing through
fishing boats like cars on traffic. This was on Satya Kamal - and also
playing end-on chicken games, "aim for the other ship ltorpedo" games
(taught by M_______) as we learnt how the other ship sees us.

Once coming out of Aden we were headed to Kandla on 072 and on our
port beam was Akbar headed to Bombay on 077, converging and at same
speed (Old Man on Akbar was T____ F______ and 2nd Mate on Akbar was
E____ M______) we had G_____ E____ sleeping as Master and B_____ as
Mate also sleeping, so i called B_____ and asked him to give engine
speed to exactly matcjh Akbar and as they came closer I refused to give
way, finally our crew were talking to the Akbar Haj pax on deck like
50 metres apart, T____ came on the bridge and started howling at me, I
showed him the finger, finally they had to alter to port and go around
behind us.

One more time, R______ was cadet 20-24 and I was 2nd Mate 00-04
and when I came on the bridge I darkened the ship downstairs totally
and then switched off the navigation lights,and started aiming for
oncoming traffic, again torpedo movements Red Sea approaching Suez -
every ship going past would go nuts and call up on VHF. We would say
we were on secret mission and not supposed to show lights. Those days,
clear vis, radar was not used, remember?

I guess those were the days. can't do stuff like that anymore. Still
want me as your 2nd Mate?

Memories of Suez Canal, '70s

So, the Israelis and Egyptians had just about made up, the canal was re-opened on the 5th of June 1975, and there we were, cream of the Nation, fresh out of the TS Rajendra a few days later on the 7th of June 1975, ready to sail. Scattered like so many dried leaves in the summer winds, 120+ of us went forth to sail under the red ensign. Many of us wanted to sail across Suez, because beyond lay the dreams and delights of Socialist countries, with their welcoming feminine arms and charms.

A dollar and pound went a long way there, so did the rupee, actually. Another story for another day.

Yours truly was lucky enough to be on one of the earliest merchant ships to cross the canal, the date is lost in the diary I kept, which got stolen years later with all the other diaries. There were reports of minor floating mines popping up every now and then, brought to the surface by the wake and churn, and similar explosions, still making the news every now and then, and extra lookouts were posted, without a clue on what we were supposed to do if we did spot sommething looking like an undefined mine floating in front of the ship. Throw a stone at it, no stones, ok, shackle, bolt, piece of dunnage wood?

On the desert side of the Canal (polite word for Israeli side) still lay the remnants of much of the Egyptian Armies hardware, growing older gracefully under the desert sun, a pity digital cameras were not around then.

Here's more of what I remember of the Suez Canal transit . . . I wonder if things have changed?

# Four pilots, each one ate at least 2 or 3 meals and drank half a dozen or more colas, while nibbling constantly at the cookies and biscuits on the bridge. and took back huge bags full of cigarettes, condiments, and whatever else. One even visited the dry provisions room to take a look, and picked up spices as well as "daal" and "basmati rice".

# A "Suez Canal Light" was rescued from the bottom of the rope locker, where it had lain forgotten since the ship was built. The Electrical officer and his assistant workedon it for days, and then we struggled to get it ready, after which, once we were in the canal, it didn't matter if it was used or not. It was heavy.

# The anchorage slots in Port Suez were really tight, and required amazing ship-handling, especially on unwieldy bulk carriers with wide beams. The slot we got would always be somewhere in the middle. Yes, you could buy fresh fish from the boats that swarmed around you, in exchange for old ropes, paint cans, and other scrap.

# Pilots and everybody else would only board and disembark by the gangway. This would include all variety of shopkeepers, who both bought and sold, and at that juncture, did not know the difference between a West German Deutsche Mark and an East German Deutsche Mark. For some reason, they always sold a lot of candies and gum - borrowed from other ships.

# These shopkeepers were also the emergency boat crews, who were supposed to keep their boats ready, but were actually running a great trade in Egyptian souveniers and artefacts. If you wanted something they didn't have (they had these photo albums) then they would deliver at the other end. In a day and age before mobile phones.

# We were like awake and on duty most of the while during transit, which could take a day or so, and the whole issue of fatigue and IMO inspired rest was not a parameter then. Also, keeping the ship in the middle while steering, especially if the ship was on even keel, was very difficult. You needed the best quartermasters on duty then.

# Fine sand got into everything. Even and especially into your nostrils. And for some reason, we would often pick up a pigeon or two hitching a ride towards the Med, once one stayed with us till Poland. Mostly, they would fly away near Gib, fatter for their experience.

# Crossing the South bound convoy, since North bound would be non-stop, was always great fun. Thanks to free rights of innocent passage to everyone, you saw all sorts of ships and flags, merrily next to each other - even if they were at war elsewhere.

I loved the Suez transits, and look forward to doing them again, as well as sailing past Gib. Some day soon, Insha-Allah.