15 April 2009

Gulf of Aden

Due to the increased pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden NATO, the European Union, and a few other countries have now established a recommended transit corridor for merchant ships heading either to or from the Red Sea. There is no formal convoy system but rather a series of "groupings" based on ships' speeds. The entire corridor is about 490 nm in length with Point Alpha on the westernmost end and Point Bravo on the opposite one. Ships register ahead of time, at least a few days before their anticipated arrival at either entry point. Based on a ship's desired transit speed, e.g. 18 knots, the coalition will specify an entry time for it to enter the corridor. The ship will be grouped with others planning to travel at roughly the same speed. The goal of all this organization is to schedule the respective ships so that they are in the most vulnerable part of the corridor during the hours of darkness when attacks have been historically least frequent. Also, the warships are able to better monitor the positions of the different ships as they can anticipate their progress through the corridor.


Our entry time for Point Alpha was 16:00 local time on 9 April. The process itself was quite simple as there is no waiting around for other ships as would be the case in a convoy system. I spent some time on the Bridge listening to the radio traffic between the different merchant ships and the coalition warships and even the occasional helicopter.


Ever since our entry into the Gulf of Aden the crew have been maintaining a heightened security level and have implemented some anti-piracy measures. The most visible measure is the increased number of people on the Bridge. Normally there is only the Officer On Watch and sometimes an A/B acting as a lookout. For this segment they are joined by an O/S and a Deck Cadet as additional lookouts. No one is allowed out on deck without the Captain's permission, so everyone is restricted to the accommodations and all doors are locked.


Obviously the radar screens are continuously monitored for suspicious ships. For safety and security reasons all ships above a certain size must be equipped with the Automatic Identification System, or AIS. This system transmits key information about a ship that can be received by other ships such as the ship's speed, course, size, etc. Any ship in the area that is not transmitting this data is immediately assumed to be suspicious. In most cases these are just fishing vessels or small, local ships but their positions are noted and the information broadcast to other ships in the region.


The reality and severity of the current state of affairs was brought home by the news that Somali pirates had hijacked an American merchant ship the day before we began our transit. As I write this the BBC is reporting that the crew have retaken the ship but that the Captain is being held hostage by the pirates in a separate boat and that negotiations with US naval forces are ongoing.


There was also a bit of excitement around noon on 10 April when a Canadian warship, part of the NATO coalition, investigated a dhow towing three skiffs that had been reported as suspicious by a number of ships in the group. We were just pulling even with the dhow when the warship hailed us and asked that we alter course a bit to keep clear. All of us standing on the Bridge had a good view of the warship and the suspect vessel but I think this dhow was already a known entity since the warship just made a reasonably close pass and then returned to its patrol. I'm sure false alarms are a challenge for the coalition forces.


I'm not sure what is the best solution to this crisis. Obviously the coalition forces are having an impact and the establishment of monitored transit corridors is a step in the right direction. However, as I've noted in earlier posts, the ocean is a really, really big place and it's just unrealistic to think that every square meter can be monitored all the time. A further challenge is one of identification; just because a vessel is identified today as a harmless fishing vessel does not mean it won't be used for a pirate attack tomorrow. Historical approaches, e.g. hanging pirates until we run out of pirates or run out of rope, don't enjoy the same level of social and political approval as in years gone by. There are also additional risks in escalating the level of conflict as the pirates so far have been pretty good in not harming their hostages; this might not be the case if the risks increase.


On a more pleasant note, I was on the Bridge right before sunset on Friday when one of the lookouts called my attention to a small whale that was spouting off our port beam. Clive, Pierre, and some of the crew were there as well and we watched it swim for a few minutes. We only saw its spouting and some of its back, so I'm not sure what type of whale it was. On Saturday morning we were well clear of the piracy threat and there was a palpable sense of relief among all on board. The waters off the coast of Oman were very pleasant; we had our usual Saturday muster drill, after which we watched an ocean-going tug towing a barge with a couple of gantry cranes on deck and spotted a few whales blowing not far from our side. In the evening, during a beautiful sunset behind the Omani coast, we spotted some dolphins taking advantage of our wake to leap to astounding heights. I'm sure there's some biological reason for their leaping, but it's obvious they look for the ships' wakes to act as launch ramps.


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