Ship Insurance emerging without piracy Antidote To

 

Monday, Apr 13,2009, 8:23:42 PM   Click:

Despite international efforts that have eliminated some attacks on the Gulf of Aden, the expedition, the problem of piracy is increasing with a 10-increase in insurance rates for ships, said a marine surveyor.

Meanwhile, no solution appears imminent, according to Peter Townsend, executive director of the brokerage Aon marine insurance division.

Mr. Townsend explained that even if hackers are caught and captured by vessels of war, no nation is willing to assume jurisdiction, they are usually returned to Somalia, their country of origin, which "Government has no credibility."

The result, he added, is the pirates "are caught, they leave and to do so and they will again."

Mr. Townsend said maritime piracy is a huge problem, with significant economic costs. His company believes that ship owners could be paying $ 30,000 in premiums of $ 3 million in the kidnapping and ransom coverage for a trip across the Gulf of Aden, an area of danger.

"If you compare this against [potential] loss of revenue and earnings, it is very cheap," said Mr Townsend.

He said that when the ships take a circuit of roads to avoid the Gulf of Aden, it can add 10 to 12 days for the journey and taking into account the crew wages, taxes and fuel, it could add one to two million dollars for the cost of a trip.

He noted that the reports in order to obtain the release of the star Sirius oil, the owners paid $ 3 million to the pirates who had originally requested $ 25 million. The amount of the payments concerned is generally kept secret, he says, because "the quieter, it is preserved, the easier the negotiations go." Generally, the largest ship, the big demand is, "he added.

Mr. Townsend said the importance of the amounts involved have created a growth industry that is growing successfully all measures against piracy, as criminals use the money they have collected to buy more - and most powerful - in armaments, and faster attack boats and navigation equipment improved.

Pirates plying the seas in recent decades, he said, was basically common thieves "content to do with the portfolios of other valuables of the ship and safes.

Piracy was "considered to be benign, and the coverage has been a part of the hull insurance, but now subscribers are deleted and to some costly political risk of war to cover the loss or physical damage caused by hackers, according to Mr. Townsend.

Any ransom paid, he explained, is deemed to be a "work load and to" incurred by the owner of the vessel to prevent loss.

Last year, he noted, there were 293 incidents of piracy, of which 49 vessels were hijacked, 899 crew members taken hostage and 32 crew members wounded. Of these incidents, there were 111 in the Gulf of Aden - an increase of 200 percent, it relates.

Mr. Townsend said that since a coalition of countries had started patrolling the Gulf of Aden, the ratio of vessels attacked those detained have spent over three to one in-19. However, he stressed that the vessels are patrolling an area of one million square miles, and pirates are now hundreds of miles away.

The attackers, he said, were armed with rifles, automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, and board vessels using lines attached to the hand and rocket fire launched taken brackets. He said they are able to climb aboard a vessel in 15 minutes.

To avoid such attacks, "said Townsend vessels operating at full capacity, wrap them with razor wire, surveillance position and are ready to remove the residents with sonic-bang devices and fire hoses.

Use of armed security and risk a weapon of combat does not appeal to owners of vessels which do not wish to deal with the explosions of grenades and spraying bullets which could be a victim of a crew member. And naval and air forces must take care to avoid incidents of innocent fishing vessels, he explained.

But in light of recent attacks, Mr. Townsend said, "they will have to do to vessels more difficult - and it is not easy."