Lawyer advises Somalia blockade, but Maersk doubts it would work

AN independent admiralty lawyer says the United States should think about blockading Somali ports to stop piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, reports American Shipper.

Lawyer Mark Tempest told a piracy conference of the US Naval Institute in Annapolis, Maryland, that the UN ought to establish a "protectorate of Somali waters where we'd begin to run their exclusive [offshore] economic zone, and where we'd set up checkpoints. If you're going to leave a Somali port, we're going to look your boat over and make sure you're not carrying ladders and RPGs".

Mr Tempest, who writes a maritime security blog for the institute, said that boats that fail to check in would get quickly visited by an armed helicopter and instructed to turn back or face the consequences. He also said British, Turkish and Dutch forces have recently taken military action close to shore and sunk some small pirate boats.

But Maersk Line expressed doubts, with senior vice president Stephen Carmel, saying that Somalia's coast is equivalent of the distance from the top of Maine to Jacksonville, Florida.

"That takes a lot of ships to blockade. And an awful lot of hardware is going to be used up in that mission for a long time," he said. The US Navy may not be willing to divert so many resources to such an exercise when it has its hands full with other critical missions around the world," said Mr Carmel.

During the first three quarters of 2010, pirates based in Somalia have attacked 127 ships and successfully hijacked 35, according to the International Maritime Bureau, reported American Shipper.
(Source:www.schednet.com)