Campagna of the industry of the shipping in order to force the governments to adopt effective measures against piracy



The world-wide industry of shipping the nozzle today the campaign Mayday Save Our Seafarers that has the objective to raise awareness the public opinion so that you speed up the governments to repress piracy somali who threatens vital commercial marine routes. The attempt is to induce the governments to make more very regarding how much they are currently making in order to contrast the phenomenon, before this strangles the world-wide commerce and before other marine innocents are tortured and killed. The initiative is promoted by the organizations of the marine industry BIMCO, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Intercargo and Intertanko, reunited in the Round Table (RT) of the international associations of the shipping, and from the labor organization International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).

Piracy somali - the organizations of the marine industry explain - regards and hits each person all over the world and the recent extension in the Indian Ocean of the area in which the pirates operate means that now they do not exist broken alternatives in order to avoid theirs attacks, in particular for the oil tankers that exit from the Persian Gulf. The shipowners and the marine ones - they emphasize - are revaluing the their current will to guarantee that these vital commercial routes remain opened and are about to decide if to make to journey the traffics in this area or not.

BIMCO, ICS, Intercargo, Intertanko and ITF remember that every day the mercantile ships are object of assaults, of blows of firearm and shooting of rocket grenades by bands of pirates, than currently beyond 800 marine ones are held hostage on their ships seized from the pirates and that the crews of these units are subordinates to abuses psychological physicists and for entire months while is intimato the payment of a ransom with the demand for varied million dollars. Nevertheless, even if caught in the act from the units of the naval forces employees against piracy - they specify - 80% of the pirates are released and put in condition for carrying out new it attacks. This happens - BIMCO, ICS, Intercargo, Intertanko and ITF support - because the politicians of the world do not realize of the gravity of this situation, while instead the governments are own who can decide and that they have the way to resolve this crisis. However - they emphasize - the governments do not seem disposed to face the truths and to act, and their dispositions given to the put naval forces in field against piracy are simply those to put into effect actions of dissuasion and contrast, unless national interests are not touched.

"It is time - the president of the BIMCO, Robert Lorenz-Meyer declares - than the governments of all the world act with firmness against the pirates who attack and seize our ships. The current praxis to release the arrested pirates without to carry out some process is a disgrace in confronts of our marine ones and the international conventions. In this way it comes absolutely to lack the respect the international law".

"The result of inertia of the governments - the general secretary of the ITF, David Cockroft observes - is that every day the pirates become stronger, plus rapes and richer. On behalf of all the main organizations of the shipping we are asking an aid by the governments in order to face this human and economic plague inflicted marine innocents. Working together and encouraging the support of the total community we hope of being able to resolve the current emergency of piracy somali".

Inertia of the governments is evidenced also by the president of the Intertanko, Graham Westgarth, from the president of the Intercargo, Nicky Pappadakis, and from the president of the ICS/ISF, Spyros M. Polemis. With the objective to change this attitude, the Table Round and the ITF they ask the governments to recognize the threat of piracy in confronts of the marine ones and following the world-wide economy and speed up the performance of the six considered measures indispensable in order to uproot piracy is in sea that to earth: to reduce the effectiveness of the ship-mother used by the pirates, that they are easy identifiable; to authorize the naval forces to stop the pirates and to deliver them so that they are tried and punished; to totally define in the national laws the abusiveness and crime of all the actions of piracy, let alone intentionality to commit them, with it obligation to cooperate in order to repress piracy in the within of the international conventions; to increase which put on naval means in this area; to supply greater protection and support to the marine ones; to characterize and to criminalize being sent and the backers who keep up these criminal organizations.

In order to contribute to the launch and the spread of this campaign Round Table and the ITF they have activated a new website to the www.saveourseafarers.com address.