Tackling Piracy

November is a dangerous month in the busy shipping lanes passing through Gulf of Aden (GOA).

Just after the monsoons fish is plentiful in the Indian Ocean. Trawlers and fishing vessels from the far-east and Europe converge off the East Coast of Africa in great numbers. It is the time when Somali pirates attack. The pirates are actually fishermen who are unable to protect the exploitation of their fish-rich waters from poachers.

Last year on 26 November terrorists attacked the Taj hotel at Mumbai. It became a defining date in terrorism - now referred to as 26/11. Just two days later the tanker MT Biscaglia owned by a company in Singapore was hijacked from the GOA. It escaped the media attention due to the Taj attack.

This story is about Biscaglia as narrated by the vessel superintendent.

There were 25 Indians and 2 Bangladeshis on board. The ship also carried three security guards who were ex-RN commandos.

The vessel carried a cargo of palm oil from Indonesia. Due to its load the freeboard (height of the deck from the water surface) was reduced to 3.7 meters. Her speed was a mere 10 knots.

On board the commandos carried non-lethal anti-piracy equipment called Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). LRAD emits a high-pitch sound which bursts the ear-drums of a person on whom it is directed. The manufacturers claimed an effective range of 300 meters. The ship was escorted by a warship in a convoy. On that day she was supposedly the best prepared against piracy. However that day she became the only vessel to be hijacked from scores of other vessels plying in the area. It was the 97th incident of piracy in 2008.

On the 28th morning a skiff suddenly appeared about 4 miles away on the starboard bow. The LRAD was installed and operated. It didn’t have much effect. Probably the pirates had inserted ear-buds. Within no time the skiff with a superior speed of 20 knots came to the opposite bow and fired an RPG. The LRAD which weighs 20 Kg is not easily portable and could not be brought on the opposite bow. The vessel was doing a zig-zag course. It actually slowed down the speed and the vessel became a sitting duck. The pirates were able to put up a ladder easily and climb on board. From the deck they rushed towards the bridge firing from the machine guns.

In a trice they went up to the bridge, broke open the port hole to enter the bridge and into the mess decks. The crew was mustered, head count was taken and the vessel was successfully taken over. The skiff having achieved its objective left the scene leaving the two pirates behind.

The three commandos who were not reflected in the crew list were hiding on top of the bridge deck. They remained undetected. Later when a German navy helicopter appeared on the scene all three of them jumped overboard and were picked up by the chopper. They managed to escape leaving the crew to fend for themselves. The conduct of the security guards was criticized. According to the crew they were roaming around in rubber slippers and Bermuda shorts. They looked as if they were on a pleasure cruise.

The efficacy of the LRAD and the commandos were questioned after the incident. One can simply put ear buds to nullify the effect of LRAD. After this incident the shipping company stopped taking security guards

Once the distress message reached the owners and the ship’s agents the human drama started. It was the first hijacking incident for the agents at Mumbai. They were totally unprepared to handle the deluge of panic calls. Everybody wanted information – friends, relatives, well wishers, apart from the normal parties like the charterers, ship-owner, maritime administrator and various other authorities.

For the next two months till the vessel was released a 24 x 7 helpline was created to deal with the enquiries pouring in different lingos – English, Hindi, Bengali and Tamil. The main problem for the agents was to control the panic of the relatives, such as an old mother or an expecting wife. It didn’t help that the incident had occurred just after the 26/11 Mumbai attack. The affected relatives were on tenter-hooks.

Meanwhile the hijacked vessel proceeded towards a small village in Somalia. After some days of steaming she reached her destination. She anchored very close to the coast. The pirates received a hero’s welcome in there own stronghold. Now there were more of them on board. The negotiations for ransom started soon after.

Throughout the negotiations the crew remained on the ship. Within the constraints they were surprisingly well looked after. They were allowed to move around to go to the toilets and have their meals. When the food on board finished the pirates brought live goats. They earmarked a place to slaughter them. The staple food thereafter was mutton and rice.

The Master and a few others from the crew were Muslims. A factor which helped in the well-being of the crew during the negotiations as the pirates were also Muslims. At regular periods the Master was permitted to speak to the world at large. His replies to all queries were always in English and the same:

“We are safe and fine. Food is running out. Please pay the ransom fast.”

The pirates called themselves businessmen. They looked after the crew as guests. They are fishermen, not terrorists. At least not yet, but they might change in the future if they are continued to be hounded by the rest of the world and their fishing livelihood is not addressed.

The ransom was delivered in hard cash inside water proof bags through their own network. The money was counted in a closed room. Once that was satisfactorily completed, the pirates told the master

“You are free to go to the next port. Nobody will harm you. Remember it is only till the next port whichever one you choose. In case if someone does attack, please call up this number.”

The pirates disappeared immediately thereafter.

The ship sailed north towards Salalah, Oman. After a few days the Master gathered sufficient courage to call the agents and gave them the message. “We are safe.”

Some lessons learnt by the ship-agents from this incident.

The pirates operate from mother vessels which carry the skiff aboard or tow it behind. The key to a successful hijack is the control of the crew.

Barricade all doors and port holes. Put iron bars on the port holes. The pirates will need to cut the bars to enter the bridge or the mess deck. Put wire rolls all around the bridge and access points. The aim is to delay the access to the bridge.

Meanwhile the crew must have a citadel stocked with enough water, dry provisions and walkie-talkies including spare batteries. The engines should be shut down. The pirates cannot run a ship. They cannot start an engine. They are not seafarers merely fishermen now calling themselves businessmen.

If the pirates are unable to capture the crew or move the ship towards their stronghold in Somalia they will simply abandon the vessel. They are scared to remain in open waters for long.

Earlier the pirates used to attack only in the morning. Not any more. Prem Divya, a VLCC carrying oil from Sudan to Singapore was attacked on the night of 09th Feb 2009. This was the first attack in the night, indicating their frustration or boldness depending on how you interpret it. With a loaded cargo its freeboard was just 3 meters. She was the last ship in the convoy. The Master of Divya complained that she did not detect the naval escort neither on the Radar nor on the AIS. Apparently it was a British stealth warship which doesn’t paint on the Radar. Moreover it had kept the transmission of her AIS off.

When Prem Divya was attacked she cried out for help. The warship came alive on the radio. She gave Divya a direction to steer. The frigate just ten miles away swung towards the tanker.

The Master, a good chap according to her superintendent was able to put all the ship’s reserve power and kept the pirate boat at bay. Fortunately the pirates didn’t fire an RPG or else the tanker would have been history.

Prem Divya survived. The Royal Navy caught the boat. They couldn’t find any guns. Probably jettisoned overboard. But the ship had video taped them, which helped in positive identification.

It’s a jungle out there. Who is bad or who is good depends on whose perspective you are looking from.

Advice from the vessel Maersk Alabama who successfully overcame an attempted piracy even after the pirates were on board:
- Have a well fortified location with food and water supply.
- Kill all the lights. The pirates are reluctant to enter inside a dark ship.
- Leave the alarms going, the noise helps to cover movements in the
house
- Flashlights and radios are very handy, as well as the sound-powered phone.