CAPTURING pirates only to see them return 48 hours later for another attempted hijack has been one of the most frustrating aspects of naval operations off Somalia.
But with a formal agreement now signed by European Union member states and Kenya, that could be about to change.
Several hundred pirates have been captured since operations began in earnest in the Gulf of Aden last year and yet only a handful have ever seen the inside of a courtroom. Hamstrung by their own rules of engagement and the lack of an overarching legal framework, navies from the EU at least have been able to do little more than neutralise the immediate threat by disarming the attackers and destroying their boats.
Given the million-dollar sums that a successful hijack can bring, it is unsurprising that procuring a new boat and weapons for the following day’s attack has not proved too much of a problem.
But with a formal agreement in place, pirates being held on EU vessels are heading towards a legal process that should offer some real level of deterrence.
How the new regime will work in practice remains to be seen. Identifying a pirate on the water and proving that he had criminal intent in a courtroom are not necessarily the same thing.
This agreement will require that thorough evidence is collected. Such skills are new to most navies and may mean that military police with investigative training will become standard issue onboard vessels.
Overall, however, officers on the ground have welcomed the move and stand ready to support any framework that offers a real chance of stamping out this modern scourge.
This is a welcome step forward for shipping safety and security in the region.
