As piracy continues unabated across the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and into the Mozambique Channel, attitudes are hardening among seafaring nations over the inability of the authorities to contain, let along reduce the incidents of pirate attacks on ships.
From Russia’s Interfax comes new that the Russian Sailors’ Trade Union has taken a stand by saying that it will do all it can to prevent Russian seafarers from being sent on ships to the affected areas.
As piracy continues unabated across the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and into the Mozambique Channel, attitudes are hardening among seafaring nations over the inability of the authorities to contain, let along reduce the incidents of pirate attacks on ships.
From Russia’s Interfax comes new that the Russian Sailors’ Trade Union has taken a stand by saying that it will do all it can to prevent Russian seafarers from being sent on ships to the affected areas.
Referring to the attack on the German-owned ship BELUGA NOMINATION on which a Filipino seafarer was shot and killed, the union says it is convinced that the deliberate, cold- blooded murder of a Philippines sailor by pirates “should change the international community’s attitude towards Somali pirates.”
Until this case, the Union continued, sailors seized as hostages were not killed. When fatal instances occurred, they did so without prior intent, or due to accidents or a combination of circumstances.
“It seems the Somali pirates have changed, and now piracy at sea can no longer be distinguished from terrorism. But whereas every state battles against terrorism on its own territory, the battle against piracy in international waters should be conducted by all states: both the states of the ship-owners' countries, and the states of countries whose sailors are working on the vessels and being captured,” the union said in a statement.
“To stop piracy, it is not enough to defend vessels in the Gulf of Aden. The terrorists' bases on shore need to be destroyed. We know of examples whereby such operations to destroy terrorist bases were carried out by the US Armed Forces. We, the maritime trade unions, representing the interests of sailors, should demand that the UN and countries' governments take any measures which they consider necessary to ensure the security of sailors in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.”
“Until the safety of sailors in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia has been ensured, I believe that sailors should not work in those dangerous regions. The Russian Sailors' Trade Union will use all means available to the trade union to ensure that Russian sailors do not go to work in the aforementioned areas. But this action can only have a result if all sailors' trade unions pursue the same policy and support such a campaign, when there are no strike-breakers among sailors,” the head of the trade union said.
The appeal has been sent to the acting chairman of the Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), the chairman of Ukraine's federation of shipping workers' trade unions, the chairman of Ukraine's shipping workers' trade union and the secretary-general of the International Transport Workers' Federation of (ITF) and the maritime coordinator of the
*ITF. – Source Sunatimes
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