On the armed guarding on ships

Giorgos Marinos
Member of the PB of the CC of the KKE

The phenomenon of piracy and the armed robbery at sea, which nowadays has taken on great dimensions with thousands of seamen falling victims to it, is a historical phenomenon that has its own qualitative elements in each historical period.

The search for the real causes that breed it and of the factors that feed it and reproduce it on a stronger basis demonstrates that the problem is complex and that it is not restricted to the “poor devils” who raided the ships in order to wrest some means of subsistence.

Things have changed since in the Bay of Bengal for instance or in other regions ships often had a “date” with the armed robbers with the pirogues.

Today, the absolute poverty of hundreds of millions of people that the capitalism causes in Africa, in Asia and Latin America is being exploited by powerful international criminal networks that develop piracy as a profitable business activity that spreads in several geographical regions, changes its centres at times, utilizes trade routes with heavy traffic, is linked with the arms and drugs trade, with criminal networks of prostitution.

Piracy at sea develops on the socioeconomic capitalist basis that breeds all forms of criminality while the phenomenon flourishes in specific conditions with the activation of certain factors.

The strengthening of piracy in the Horn of Africa has its own course. It is linked with the civil war in Somalia which was reinforced after the American-Ethiopian intervention in 2006 and continues up today in the name of combating terrorism.

The phenomenon flourished in conditions marked by the destruction of thousands of fishermen, who have been the victims of the exploitation of the resources of the sea by the big interests, and the destruction of the sea environment by the dumping of chemical and other dangerous wastes which, along with drought, led hundreds of people and children to death from hunger and illnesses.

Under these conditions and under the painful lack of a revolutionary movement, the terrain for the recruitment of the local poor population was formed.

The activity of the pirate criminal network

The enrichment of the activity of the pirate criminal network is a qualitative element as usually they do not limit themselves to robbing seamen, to taking food and other things from the ship but capture the ships and the crews, to sell the ship’s cargo, to extract ransoms worth millions of dollars.

According to the data of the international organizations the money collected is dispersed to various parties. “Investors” receive 50%, pirates 30%, those who guaranteed the transfer of the pirates to the targets as well the safe keeping of the hostages 10%, while 10% is destined for the members of the tribe (daily “Eleftherotipia” 16.7.2011). The total amount of ransoms paid to Somali pirates in the past three years is estimated at 280-300 million dollars, while the participation of Greek ship-owners in the payment of ransoms reaches 10-13% (www. Dealnews.gr, 10.05.2011).

These changes are related to a significant modernization of the infrastructure and the equipment used by these criminal networks.

Facilities, radars, satellite systems for spotting the geographical position of the ship, satellite phones, ships serving as bases and very fast crafts for the dispersion of the armed men, modern military equipment.

Of course a significant number of attacks in 2010, which has a declining tendency, were still carried out with small crafts and knives. This shows that there still exists a small part which has not been incorporated yet into the organized criminal networks.

According to the data of IMO for 2010, the international intergovernmental organization of the UN, it seems that the majority of incidents took place in Eastern Africa (Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique) with a tendency for a higher concentration of incidents in Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden which increased in 2011.

Generally the incidents increased in the Indian Ocean (77 assaults in 2010 compared to 27 in 2009) and in the Arabian Sea, between India and Oman-South Yemen, in the entrance of the Persian Gulf where in 2010 took place 16 incidents compared to 2 in 2009.

There has also been a significant increase of the incidents in the South China Sea where 134 assaults were reported in 2010 from 77 in 2009. There has been a fall in the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia where, apart from the change in the pirates’ targets, the coordinated guarding of military crafts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand has also had a certain impact.

In South America and the Caribbean the incidents increases to 40 in 2010 from 36 in 2009 and in West Africa they remained at around 46-47.

During the period 2008-2010 there were 15 assaults on ships under a Greek flag while two were occupied by pirates without causing any loss of human life.

Statistics show that the majority of the assaults took place in international waters on ships which were in motion while there was also a significant number of assaults on anchored ships within national waters but also within the region of ports. This confirms the accusations concerning the involvement of state authorities while on the other hand it shows the possibility to mitigate the phenomenon, if there existed the related protection and activation of the national means.

Congestion of imperialist forces

Naval forces of the strong imperialist states and states with a subordinate position in the imperialist pyramid have been congesting in the Horn of Africa over recent years in the framework of the general geo-strategic goals, utilising piracy for the consolidation of their positions in the region and the promotion of their plans for the control of places with a special strategic importance such as the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

The recent developments in the Persian Gulf, the aggressiveness of the United States, the NATO and the EU against Iran and the preparation of a new imperialist war find in the region a naval machine ready for war which is being strengthened under the pretext of piracy.

The naval forces that operate in the region include:

The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), the combined naval forces in the framework of which 35 warships from 24 countries are mobilized with a special regular force in the region of the Aden Gulf.

The EUANAVFOR SOMALIA , a naval force which has been formed by the European Union. Greece participates in it with one or two warships. This force organizes operations under the code name “ATALANTA” according to a relevant decision of the UN in the name of protecting the ships that transfer humanitarian aid to Somalia, for the prevention of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. EUNAVFOR has expanded competences and fulfils the role of a coordinator in the framework of Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa) – MSCHOA.

The intervention of the EU is not restricted to the naval force but extends to general political-economic activities in the framework of the policy of promoting the imperialist goals in the Horn of Africa and the African continent in general where there is an increased activity of the powerful imperialist states. The decision of the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU in December 2011 for the appointment of the well known Alex Rondos, who was an advisor of George Papandreou during the 90s, as a representative of the EU in the region is a characteristic fact.

The appointment of A. Rondos is related to the formation of mechanisms and the promotion of plans that concern for instance activities for the construction of political structures, for the upgrading of economic development and economic cooperation in the region, giving priority to the exploitation of vast arable lands and natural resources for the benefit of European monopolies.

The STANDING NATO MARITIME GROUP, a force which consists of US ships and ships of other NATO member-states.

WARSHIPS of China, India, Japan and Russia which navigate in regions that include the international channel for the transit of ships sailing westwards or eastwards, in the Aden Gulf.

At this point, we have to underline the significance of the recent article of “RIZOSPASTIS” which stresses not only that the Greek shipping is incorporated into the plans of NATO and the imperialist plans in general, but also that the ship-owners in cooperation with the Defense Ministry are searching for ships and crews that will carry military equipment for large scale military operations of NATO in the region of the Persian Gulf.

Armed forces on ships

The issue becomes more complicated if we take into account that these developments are related to the decision of the government concerning the armed guards on Greek ships.

A new business activity has emerged today which provides ships with armed and unarmed guards.

According to the data of the companies that provide this kind of service it seems that recently there are about 125 companies active on a global scale, which are called companies of “maritime security”.

In Greece there are about 5 companies active in this sector which have a significant number of reserve or retired men of the Underwater Demolition Teams (OYK), commandos and generally men from the army’s special forces.

These companies apart from hiring weapons undertake the supply of equipment, the installation of barbed wire and power lines, the training of crews with an overall payment ranging from 30.000 to 80.000 dollars.

These companies have already created their basis in Mombasa (Kenya), in Dar el Salaam (Tanzania) and other African ports.

Despite the deliberate promotion of the solution of the armed or unarmed guards, only 10% of the global fleet has yet chosen this solution and this element shows the hesitation of parts of the ship-owning capital due to the great danger to the ships themselves.

At the same time, despite the exaggerations which have been heard concerning the number of states which have chosen the solution of the armed guards, data from various sources report that this solution has been chosen by the governments of India and Liberia.

The dangerous draft law must be withdrawn

Taking into account the various aspects of the implementation of the draft law concerning the presence of armed guards on ships that the government is about to bring in the Parliament, we decisively demand its immediate withdrawal and the cancellation of such plans for the following reasons:

1. The existence of armed guards and military equipment on the ship creates a very dangerous situation that will have tragic consequences at the expense of human life at sea and reinforce the aggressiveness of pirate criminal networks and consequently the dangers for the ship and the crew.

Furthermore, it is well known that these criminal networks have at their disposal economic resources and adapt their activity while they possess modern technical equipment, capable of overcoming the resistance of the ship involving the crew in much greater dangers than today.

In fact the existence of armed guards actually creates conditions of war that might lead to great damage, even to the destruction of ships, to deaths and serious injuries to an extent that cannot be compared to the current consequences and losses of human lives.

It is beyond any doubt that the exchange of fire on a ship that transfers oil, or any of its derivatives, gas and chemicals might lead to a fire, to an explosion or can even blow up the ship leading to “mass graves” with dead and injured people.

Despite the differences the same holds true, more or less, for other categories of ships taking into account that pirates possess or can get hold of modern weapons including automatic or semiautomatic AK-47 (Kalashnikov), RPG-7 grenade launchers, rocket launchers SPG-9 and large caliber machine guns capable of punching holes in the metal of the ship and causing great destruction.

This version that has to do with the event of exchanging fires without the pirates being on board becomes even more dangerous in the case of a battle on the ship taking into account the cruelty of the battle, the aggressiveness of the pirates and the development it will have through the involvement of the seamen.

We can also support, based on evidence, that the ships that will have armed guards will constitute a special target of the pirate criminal networks with a similar preparation.

2. The existence of the armed guards creates conditions that change the character of the seamen’s profession since signing on in such a ship is like signing on in a “war zone” something that entails grave dangers for the physical safety and the lives of the seamen.

This fact becomes obvious from the article of the draft law that provides the possibility of the return home for a part of the crew that does not wish to work under these conditions. Of course this provision does not solve the problem because the seamen will have to choose between dangers and unemployment, irrespective of what they want

Generally this situation has a negative impact on the working rights of the seamen, entails the danger of arbitrariness, provocations, of the use of this mechanism for exerting anti-worker pressure.

At the same time the role of captain is changing as, according to another article of the draft law, captains will be compelled to play a military role because, according to the draft law, the armed guards “operate under the leadership of the captain”. The captain will have to take care for the familiarization of the guards, to monitor their activities, and will be subject to sanctions for any shortcomings.

3. The provisions which refer to the issuing of joint ministerial decisions on issues of type and amount of armaments, the use of weapons etc are also particularly worrying, which make the matter of armed guards on the ships even more dangerous in its development. Taking into consideration that anyone can be involved in this matter, including sections of mercenary armies, as they constitute the staff of companies which possess legal, and formal qualifications and recognized certification of quality (!), as the draft law provocatively mentions.

A symptom of rotting capitalism

The above positions cannot be reasonably challenged or rejected in the name of the dangers of piracy.

The recent 89^th Session of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (11-20 May 2011) remained (up to this moment) at the older recommendations for dealing with pirate attacks and armed robberies and did not approve proposals for the issuing of recommendations concerning the existence of armed guards on the ships, as there was a lot of concern about the negative consequences at the expense of human lives at sea.

In a related circular, which constituted a compromise, it is mentioned that the issue of armed guards is subject to the responsibility of the state of the ship’s flag.

But the directives of the Ministry of Citizen Protection to the Greek delegation which took part in this session of the IMO are interesting, because they reveal that in the draft law which the government is bringing for consultation positions are being proposed which had been rejected just a few months previously by the same ministry.

Amongst other things the directives mention: “A fixed position of our country up today is the non presence both of armed and non-armed teams of guards on a ship with the aim of protecting it from acts of piracy or armed robbery, as is in any case recommended by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).”

We note that the self-proclaimed “best practices” of the IMO concerning the phenomenon of Piracy provide for a series of measures which are related to the readiness of the crew and the use of various preventative measures, among them the speed of the ship, the use of means of fire-fighting, immediate communication with land, the use of specially protected channels at sea etc.

These measures have their importance, and can to various extents stop an attack in combination with the protection of territorial waters, anchorages, harbours as well as the area around them by the navy and air-forces of the region’s states.

In any case the phenomenon of contemporary piracy, as with other capitalist cancers, demonstrates that exploitative system, which is in its final imperialist stage, has rotted and exudes a stench, thus placing the task of its overthrow before the peoples.

Published in “Rizospastis”, organ of the CC of the KKE on 15/01/2012