KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Maritime groups on Monday called on the United Nations to mount an international naval blockade to halt the surge of piracy off Somalia.
At a regional conference on maritime safety, they also called for clear rules of engagement that would allow foreign navies to intercept and prosecute pirates who are operating with impunity in the Gulf of Aden.
"Maybe we should have the UN coordinating naval action off Somalia. It could impose a blockade along the Somali coast," said Peter Swift of the London-based International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO).
Swift said that if the attacks are not stopped there will be a serious effect on world trade -- 90 percent of which travels by sea.
"It will have an impact on global trade if we do not have a solution quickly. The situation is getting worse. We need urgent action," he told AFP. "It is very difficult to see how it is going to stop."
"We have asked (the UN) for a long time for naval support for merchant shipping to protect the seafarers and world trade," he said, adding they had requested naval help and aerial patrols.
"They should have clear rules of engagement which allow them to intercept pirates and to take appropriate action."
Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Tokyo-based Nippon Foundation which lobbies for safer shipping, also called for an escalation of the response to pirates whose attacks have dramatically increased in recent months.
"The pirates are heavily armed. It is beyond the reach of the seafarers to protect themselves," he told AFP.
"The United Nations should take action. It should deploy a sea-based UN-backed peacekeeping mission to ensure security. Pirates will then think twice before attacking," he said.
More than a dozen countries have deployed warships to protect their cargo ships as they sail the treacherous Gulf of Aden but the area is too big for them to secure.
NATO sent four warships into the Gulf of Aden last month on anti-piracy duties and to escort aid vessels, while a European Union anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia is to begin on December 8.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
