By GITHUA KIHARA
Saturday, April 03, 2010
The chief fisheries officer at the Marine and Coastal Fisheries Directorate, Mwaka Barabara, said that some of these vessels that have in the past used Kenya’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) have shifted to South Africa, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.
Those vessels that have not been relocated to other regions are likely to be dismantled and sold as scrap, a maritime expert said.
According to the managing director of the East African Deep Fishing Ltd, Jose Gonzalez, operating in the East African part of the Indian Ocean has become a huge challenge for fishermen due to pirates.
The company operates MV Sakoba which was hijacked by pirates with 10 Kenyan fishermen on board, grounding its operations. The company, Mr Gonzalez said, does not process any fish for the local market but exports to the European Union, largely Portugal, Italy and Spain.
More sophisticated
The pirates are now demanding $7 million for ransom although the negotiations are going on according to Mr Andrew Mwangura, the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme spokesman.
Since last year, pirates have become more sophisticated and have identified new locations for ambushing ships that are over 1000 nautical miles off the Somali coast, which was not possible three years ago.
In 2008, 16 warships were deployed off the Somali coast to check the pirates. The pirates have since moved many of their operations further south, targeting ships as they come out of the Mozambique Channel. Added to the challenges of the long Somali coast line, policing the region has become a huge challenge to the warships.
Last year recorded the highest number of attacks, which became more violent across the globe, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in a report.
Off the coast of lawless Somalia, the number of cases nearly doubled at 217 incidents, with 47 vessels hijacked and 867 crew members taken hostage.
Ms Mwaka said that Kenya may not register any vessels this year since based on past experience, the vessels are registered by March.
“Last year, we registered 14 vessels which was a big drop compared to three years ago when we registered over 80 when the problem of pirates was not widespread as today,” she said.
The large fishing vessels are registered for up to $20,000 per year.
Source: Daily Nation