Friday, August 29, 2008
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| The Gem of Kilakari is seen underway after a pirate attack. pic: US Navy. |
GERMAN owners have demanded that the German navy must start fighting pirates following a recent peak in pirate attacks off the Somali coast.
“We have appealed to all parties in the German parliament to give permission to the German navy to take action against pirates,” said Uta Ordemann, secretary of the German Shipowner’s Association, VDR.
German heavy lift project vessel BBC Trinidad, which is owned by Bremen-based owner Beluga Shipping, is currently being held hostage off Somalia.
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The incident follows only weeks after German-controlled bulker Lehman Timber spent six weeks in the hands of Somali pirates following a similar attack. Beluga Shipping managing director Niels Stolberg has personally called upon the German navy to organise a safety corridor to protect vessels in the region. “For example, they can arrange a convoy twice a day,” he said.
However, the use of the German navy for the fight against pirates is still a legal and political problem. Although the German navy is part of the Operation Enduring Freedom mission, operating in the region of the Horn of Africa, it is only allowed to fight terrorists. Combating pirates remains a job for the police as far as German bureaucrats are concerned.
Politicians of the ruling Grand coalition disagree over the question of whether the constitution must be changed to allow the navy to fight pirates.
According to VDR a change in the constitution is not necessary and they claim they now have backing from leading marine lawyers who share this position. VDR had previously pleaded for a change of the constitution to make the legal situation ‘weatherproof’.
The 13 crew members of the BBC Trinidad, who are from Slovakia, Russia and the Philippines, so far have not been harmed by the attackers.
“The whole crew is in good health,” Mr Stolberg said. He added that Beluga Shipping is already in negotiations with the hijackers but refused to give further details.
The BBC Trinidad was on its way from Houston in the US to Muscat in Oman last week when it was attacked by two speedboats.
The vessel sails under the flag of Antigua & Barbuda and is chartered to the Leer-based operator BBC Chartering and Logistics. It carries general cargo as well as tubes for the oil industry.
The BBC Trinidad is a sister vessel of the MS Beluga Skysails, which is equipped with an additional towing kite.
Source: Lloyd's List, August 29, 2008