Europe expands anti-piracy fight in Somali waters

By John Oyuke

The European Union (EU) has resolved to up the fight against pirates off the coast of Somalia with military forces being allowed for the first time to go for targets on land and waterways.

The Council of the EU endorsed the expansion of the operation, which appears to herald a significant shift in strategy from a mission that has concentrated until now on stopping pirates at sea in Brussels, Belgium last week.

The foreign ministers also said the operation, which started in 2008, will be extended until the end of 2014. A statement said Somalia’s transitional government has accepted the EU’s offer for greater collaboration in the operation

"Today’s decision will enable Operation Atalanta Forces to work directly with the transitional federal government and other Somali entities to support their fight against piracy in the coastal areas," the statement said.

The EU didn’t provide details about the areas that will now be open to its anti-piracy mission for the first time, but the long coastline of war-ravaged Somalia provides a perfect haven for pirate gangs preying on shipping off the East African coast.

Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, who commands the EU operation, said the extension confirms the commitment of the 27-member bloc towards fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa.

"Piracy has caused so much misery to the Somali people and to the crews of ships transiting the area and it is right that we continue to move forward in our efforts," he said.

According to One Earth Future Foundation, attacks off the East African country’s coast last year led to 1,118 seafarers being taken hostage and 24 killed.

A total of 31 ransoms were paid, with the average amount increasing by 25 per cent to $5 million.

Shipping bore about 80 per cent of piracy costs, totalling between $5.3 billion and $5.5 billion, according to the report.

The SOS – Save Our Seafarers – campaign, a joint ship owners and seafarers lobby, welcomed the extension of the EU counter-piracy operation the and the EU decision to broaden the scope of its naval operation in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

It described the move as allowing the EU forces to "take more robust action on the Somali coast," and as a "bold step towards the goal that the shipping industry and its seafarers embrace – that of seeing piracy in this region eliminated."

SOS also welcomed the release of Judith Tebbutt, a British kidnapped by armed Somalis, who also killed her husband, in Kenya last September after a ransom was paid. She flew home from Kenya with her son, Oliver recently.