Fifty-fourth session Agenda, 1999: Report of the Secretary-General
IX. Marine science and technology
Section C. Piracy and armed robbery
231.
IMO provided information on the total number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery reported to the organization since it began compiling statistics on these unlawful acts in 1984; they had amounted to 1,455 by the end of April 1999. Although the number of such incidents had dropped in 1998 by 17 per cent compared with 1997, 51 crew members had reportedly been killed and another 31 had been wounded in 1998. The same areas continued to be most affected by pirates and armed robbers: the Far East, in particular the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait; Latin America and the Caribbean; the Indian Ocean; and West and East Africa. The IMO Maritime Safety Committee at its seventy-first session in May 1999, although welcoming as an encouraging trend the aforementioned drop in reported piratical attacks, was particularly apprehensive to note that the degree of violence experienced had been escalating and therefore once again invited all Governments as well as the industry to intensify their efforts to eradicate those unlawful acts (MSC 71/23, sect. 15).
232.
There were 115 incidents of piracy and armed robbery reported to the International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Shipping in the first half of 1999. The reports indicate a slight decline in the number of incidents in some areas, while others showed a marked increase, most notably Indonesia -- 36 incidents in the first half of 1999, 15 more than during the same period last year; Singapore Straits -- 13 incidents, compared with no incidents over the last two years; and Nigeria -- seven incidents, which were reported to have been particularly violent -- compared with one incident for the same period last year.31 Most of the
attacks took place in territorial waters, including in straits used for international navigation, and in port areas.
233.
Reports to the Maritime Safety Committee show that there has been
an increase in the number of incidents where the sole objective of the attack was to steal the ship, in order to use it, for example, to commit cargo fraud.32 The drug-related aspects of some of the attacks on ships in ports have also been highlighted.33
234.
The international community has expressed its deep concern about
the grave danger to life as well as the navigational and environmental risks to which acts of piracy and armed robbery can give rise. The General Assembly in its resolution 53/32 on "Oceans and the law of the sea" urged all States, in particular coastal States in affected regions, to take all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent and combat incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea and to investigate or cooperate in the investigation of such incidents wherever they occurred and bring the alleged perpetrators to justice, in accordance with international law. The Assembly called upon States to cooperate fully with IMO in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships, including by submitting reports on incidents to that organization.
235.
In October 1998, IMO undertook two missions of experts to the
countries most affected: one to the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, and another to Brazil. The missions were then followed up by two regional seminars and workshops: one for the South-East Asian region (Singapore, 3-5 February 1999), and the other for the Latin America and the Caribbean region (Brasília, October 1998). Other seminars and workshops are scheduled for the West African region (Nigeria, 6-8 October 1999) and for the region of the Indian Ocean.
236.
Some of the main problem areas identified during the missions of
experts and regional seminars and workshops held so far were: the economic situation currently prevailing in the regions concerned; certain resource constraints on law-enforcement agencies; lack of communication and cooperation between the various agencies involved; the response time after an incident has been reported to the coastal State concerned by affected ships; general problems of ship reporting; timely
and proper investigation into reported incidents; the prosecution of pirates and armed robbers when apprehended; and lack of regional cooperation.
237.
The Singapore and Brasília seminars proposed the development of
an international code for the investigation of piracy and armed robbery against ships which would recommend an appropriate punishment for acts of piracy and armed robbery; and also prepared amendments to two IMO circulars: MSC/Circ.622 on "Recommendations to Governments for preventing and suppressing piracy and armed robbery at sea", and
MSC/Circ.623 on "Guidance to shipowners and ship operators, shipmasters and crews on preventing and suppressing acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships". The Maritime Safety Committee at its 71st session expressed its support for the development of a code (MSC 71/23, para. 15.20-15.21) and adopted with modifications the proposed amendments to the two circulars.
238.
The revised circular MSC/Circ.622/Rev.1 includes a number of new
recommendations to Governments, for example: (a) to establish their jurisdiction over the offences of piracy and armed robbery at sea, including adjustment of their legislation, if necessary to enable the apprehension and prosecution of the offenders; (b) to adopt an incident command system and incorporate therein existing mechanisms for dealing with other maritime security matters, e.g., smuggling, drug-trafficking and terrorism, in order to allow for efficient use of limited resources; (c) to establish cooperation agreements with neighbouring States having common borders in areas threatened by piracy and armed robbery to provide, inter alia, for the coordination of patrol activities; and later conclude a regional agreement with those States to facilitate coordinated response at the tactical as well as the operational level, e.g., through the establishment of a regional incident command system; and through the incorporation of specific provisions in existing agreements, bilateral or regional, permitting the extension of hot pursuit into the territorial sea of other neighbouring States. An example of a regional agreement is appended to the revised circular.
239.
National reports presented at the Singapore seminar indicated that
some coastal States are not in a position to arrest and prosecute in cases of piracy on the high seas because they have no provisions in their domestic legislation to do so (MSC 71/15/4). At the 71st session of the Maritime Safety Committee, Venezuela in its submission (MSC 71/15/6) pointed out that criminals were profiting from the legal confusion which arises between acts of piracy -- a clearly defined term in international law -- and armed robbery a term for which no legal definition exists, and which has been introduced to cover illicit acts occurring within the jurisdiction of a coastal State. It therefore proposed that the format of the annex to the reports on acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships provided to IMO should be modified to clearly distinguish "acts of piracy" from "armed robbery". The Committee agreed that the UNCLOS definition of piracy should be included as a footnote in future IMO
circulars (MSC 71/23, para. 15.19). The draft regional agreement appended to IMO circular MSC/Circ.622/Rev.1 (see para. 238) defines "piracy to mean those acts as defined in article 101 of UNCLOS". In this connection, it may be noted that a Joint International Working Group, established by the Comité Maritime International, is addressing the problem of the lack of uniformity in national laws on piracy and maritime violence.
