Modern Maritime Piracy: Stakes and Prospects of a Transnational Organized Crime

Résumé du document

Piracy is not a new phenomenon. Quite the reverse, it is as old as sea navigation and especially maritime trade. As early as in the Antiquity, the Roman Empire organized military campaigns to destroy pirate ships that were starving the Empire despite the fact that piracy was considered an honorable profession. When the Roman Empire collapsed, and with it the 'pax maritima', piracy rose again and even found a niche with privateering as they could receive 'lettres de marque' to act upon a government's orders and attack its enemy ships.

Privateering was very common particularly in the Conquest era and Golden Age (17th and 18th Centuries) when maritime trade dramatically increased. In 1856, the Paris Declaration on Maritime Rights made it unlawful for States to hire privateers, leaving hundreds of pirates without an affiliation. Piracy continued until the present day. Nevertheless, the issue of piracy has appeared in the last few decades as a new and increasing phenomenon to many people, including scholars. The threat of piracy alerted the international community after the tragedies of the so-called 'boat people' formed by refugees escaping Vietnam in the 1970s and 1980s and attacked by pirates.

In 1983, the International Maritime Organization officially acknowledged the resurgence of piracy, leading scholars and world politicians to focus on 'modern piracy' trends and how to deal with it. There is still great controversy regarding the definition of modern piracy, mainly about its distinction from maritime terrorism. In this paper, we will focus on piracy as an organized crime, and we will apply organized crime's most accepted definition of piracy: armed robbery at sea, motivated by profit and conducted by two or more private actors.

Extraits

[...] Mejia, Jr Contemporary Issues in Maritime Security, Malmö: WMU Publications p tional Maritime Organisation Figure 2. Yearly statistics of piracy incidents worldwide 1984-2005 Source: Interna- 11 Appendix Trend in the number of reported attacks from 1998 to 2007 by regions: (form Bjorn, 2009) Appendix Trends in pirates' violence (from Chalk, 2008) Table 2.1 Types of Violence to Crew and Passengers, 1995–2006 Type Taken hostage KFR Threatened Assaulted Injured Killed Missing Total for year SOURCE: International Maritime Bureau Piracy Appendix Maritime trade routes (from La Documentation Française) Bibliography: . [...]

[...] Another threat posed by piracy but generally not considered is environmental threat: in fact, navigations issues are often forgotten during a pirates attack, increasing dramatically the risk of a Vienna Convention See Appendix collision that could be harmful to the environment if the cargo is full with oil or other dangerous chemicals. There are instruments to deal with piracy, at the international level, at the national level and at the private level. National tools for anti-piracy enforcement depend on each State's law, and because the pursuit and prosecution of pirates acting in territorial waters are matters of the State, there are numerous enforcement regimes. Nevertheless, due to the strong transnational nature of piracy, geographically and regarding to the victims, there are international conventions providing procedures to arrest and prosecute pirates. [...]

[...] In parallel to this attack categorization, it is possible to categorize pirates. The one we want to focus on in this paper are the criminal syndicates who have connections to the black market and relations with officials. As Luft and Korin highlighted, they tend to be very well equipped, with the last technology available in satellite phones, GPS, weapons including antitank missiles. They have developed a very sophisticated tactical attack, using several boats and an impressive firepower to surround their target. [...]

[...] In this paper Piracy, Threat at sea : A risk analysis, Münchener Rüch, Munich Re Group as we want to focus on piracy as organized crime, we will apply organized crime most accepted definition to piracy: armed robbery at sea, motivated by profit and conducted by two or more private actors. How an age-old fact can suddenly become a new key issue in international security? There are two main reasons: first, an increase in maritime traffic and second, as a parallel consequence to that increase, an increase in the number of attacks. In a globalizing world, the right to innocent passage in territorial waters or high seas is fundamental for States' interests and security. Piracy threatens this fundamental right. [...]

[...] There is a significant legal issue and lack of cooperation, whether by bilateral or multilateral agreements, considering hot pursuit. Regional agreements are a major possible improvement and already quite efficient in Asia, where regional cooperation is the minimum to deal with pirates, especially in the Straits of Malacca. The Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI) provides for joint naval exercises, information sharing, and cooperation during operations [Luft & Korin, 2004]. Finally, non-state actors can engage in anti-piracy activities, and they tend to be quite efficient. [...]