Thu, 21 May 11:00 2009

Piracy via London

Escalating attacks on cargo ships and private vessels continue in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean despite the European Union’s Atalanta Operation and although several Somali pirates have been killed by the French and US navies.
According to the Spanish radio station SER last week, which quoted a Spanish military intelligence report, the pirates receive inside information from London, and attacks were far from random. On the contrary, they were based on detailed information from ‘well connected informers’.
The London moles allegedly advise the Somalian pirates which ships are worth assaulting, said the intelligence document, which was passed on to countries with navies participating in the Atalanta Operation.
The pirates seemingly know the name, nationality, route, cargo and position of specific vessels, and their contacts clearly had access to information provided by shipping companies to the maritime authorities.
Spanish intelligence believes the pirates are little more than employees although the local pirate bosses are in permanent communication with London via satellite phone which, together with their high-tech equipment, provides the pirates with an element of surprise.
The conduct of the pirates consistently betrays prior knowledge of shipping, and the Spanish report cited the case of the ‘Felipe Ruano’, a Basque-based tuna-fishing vessel, last March as well as ‘Titan’, a Greek cargo ship, and the Turkish-registered ‘Karagol’. In each case, the pirates were well versed as to the name, nationality, cargo and layout of the targeted vessels.
According to SER, the Spanish report highlighted the pirates’ avoidance of British-registered vessels which have hardly been touched in the past 12 months, possibly to divert attention from their London contacts.
The United States last month emphasised its determination to fight the Somali pirates although Spain found itself in a contradictory situation after a National High Court judge last week ordered the release of 13 pirates captured and held aboard the Spanish Navy vessel ‘Marques de la Ensenada’.
Judge Fernando Andreu originally directed the Defence Ministry to send the men to Spain for questioning and ruled that landing them in Kenya to be tried for piracy would breach their rights if an enquiry were already under way in Spain.
After protests from the Ministry of Defence, he stipulated that they could now be taken to Kenya under the EU’s agreement with the Nairobi government.
At present, Germany hands over captured pirates to Kenya while France, the Netherlands and the United States bring them to justice on their own soil only if they have jeopardised national interests.
However, following the leaked intelligence report, possibly London is the best place to pursue them.

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