Letter to the Editor at Mint on maritime piracy

http://www.livemint.com/2011/04/18215550/To-Davy-Jones8217-Locker.html?h=B

Good evening,

As an ex-seafarer as well as keen observor of the whole maritime piracy scene impacting the world in general and Indians in particular, the answer to your question is simple : YES.

However, before that can be done, certain in-house correctives need to be applied.

1) Recruitment of Indian seafarers for foreign flag ships is done through RPS companies registered with the DG Shipping/Mumbai, vide rules made in 2005 which are largely defective in as much as they encourage multiple malpractices, as well as have no control on the legalities of ships on which Indians end up working. These rules, for example, do not clearly define employee or employer. Nor do they define the responsibility of the flag State of the vessel on which the Indian seafarer is going to work. The bank guarantee per seafarer for these RPS companies is - hold your breath - 10000/oo rupees per head.

Read about this here:-

http://www.dgshipping.com/dgship/final/rules/ms_recruit_placement_seafarers_2005.doc

If we don't fix our own rules for our own people going to work on foreign flag ships, then what is the use of shedding crocodile tears subsequently?

2) There are specifically two large banks and two large payment processing/remittance companies linked to insurance companies which are known to be involved in this business. This is an open secret in shipping circles. All of them have business interests in India. The time for playing soft is gone - these companies need to be approached and told in no uncertain terms that the sort of games they played in the rest of the world, including during the World Wars for one of them, can not be played anymore. You do not have to see Charlie Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR to understand this, or work out the economics of how it is the co-linked insurance companies that are rolling in with the profits.

3) Most importantly, India's Government has to stop being apologetic about taking steps to protect its maritime trade and economy, and start hardening ships to prevent boarding as well as placing armed guards drawn from the Indian Navy and Indian Coastguard onboard Indian flag ships. Likewise, for Indians going to work on foreign flag ships under RPS of DG Shipping, it should be mandatory to have armed guards as a pre-condition for permitting Indians to work on board. As on date, the DG Shipping is still stuck with the now ancient BMP3 method, which means nothing in real terms.

Maritime piracy has to be eliminated, it is much bigger than a few seafarers being stuck off the Horn of Africa - it is the trade and economy of the country. The sooner india takes decisisve pro-active steps, the better.

regards/Veeresh Malik

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DID YOU KNOW THE BANK GUARANTEE FOR YOUR LIFE ACCORDING TO DGS IS ALL OF Rs. 10000.oo (ten thousand). SLIGHLY LOW, NO?

ICEBERG 1 - a recap and a view from India

Of all the piracy cases off Somalia currently unresolved and going from bad to worse, none makes for sadder reading than the one involving the ICEBERG 1. Here is a file photograph of the ship along with the original first report on its hijacking in March 2010:-

http://www.eunavfor.eu/2010/03/panama-flagged-vessel-hijacked-close-to-aden/

But if you want to go into it chronologically, then the following questions need to be addressed and answered . . .

# What were the Indian Government documents that the Indian nationals onboard were sailing on, CDC, CoC? And if so, what were the departure Indian airport/seaport formalities like, are there any records with DGS?

# Who was the agent in India, were they linked to the "training" establishments, or what?

# What is the relationship between the owners and the cargo interests?

# Most of all, what happens to de-briefing of returned seafarers in the RAK AFRIKANA case, and is it in any way linked to the ICEBERG-1?

Questions, questions - and the bankers in question suspected of being the real backers - they appear to be the same.