Nip infiltration of Somali pirates in the bud

By Manjula FERNANDO

Captain Sarath Weerawansa, a seasoned seafarer has worked on international merchant ships for over 30 years. A retired Air Force officer, he has braved many rough seas and storms and survived a most terrifying near death experience during his life at sea.

A duty conscious sailor, he had manned cargo vessels to destinations where seafarers dreaded to even think of. He has been to lawless Somalia twice and became a hostage of Somali authorities who he says are no different than ruthless pirates, for seven months. While there with his crew, he almost died of starvation and disease. His outspokenness too almost cost him his life. The Sunday Observer wrote of his terrifying experiences at the hands of Somali war lords last year. Captain Weerawansa spoke on the threat that lurks out there close to Sri Lankan territorial waters - of the infiltration of Somali pirates into South Asia.

“I hope the Navy will exert pressure on the Somali pirates and drive them off. They have come so close to Sri Lankan territorial waters. I think it is best if they combat these ruthless killers before the issue becomes fully blown and disastrous.

The Sri Lankan Navy at one time braved international waters and destroyed LTTE re-supply vessels. Why can’t they do the same with these pirates? It seems like the Navy is facilitating them. The Somali pirates cannot be trusted or controlled by anyone.

The latest trick of the pirates is that they use fishing vessels as bait. They capture fishing vessels first and send out distress calls.

The merchant ships reaching out to rescue these vessels are then ambushed by the Somalis.

This has happened close to Indian and Lankan waters in recent times.

The pirates are venturing out deep down into the Indian Ocean, towards India, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

This could well be the reason why they killed two Lankan fishermen recently. “If you don’t budge or bow down to their orders, you will be good as dead meat.” Capt Weerawansa said through experience.

“These fishermen would not have wanted to let go of their trawler.

Three pirate boats captured by a French naval craft

Pirate territory

Ultimately the price was two lives.”

Our ships go way beyond our territory. They go as far as Madagascar and Somalia. One reason why the Somalis took to the trade of piracy is because foreigners began exploiting their traditional fishing grounds. When they lost their fishing harvest to outsiders they took up to the more lucrative piracing. This is one story we seafarers have heard from other seafarers and our predecessors.

When I was held by the Somali port authorities at the Berbera Port, I saw foreign fishermen being hurled in and imprisoned for breaching their territorial fishing grounds.

Our fishermen although equipped with GPS and VHS technology, are barely conversant with the technical know how to put the equipment to good use. They struggle with maps. This is one reason why they drift off towards Maldives, Seychelles and Madagascar waters and become prisoners in foreign lands. There is no point in giving them the latest technology without the competency to handle it.

It is indeed disturbing that the Somalis have arrived into South Asian waters. Especially in the light that Sri Lanka is aspiring to become South Asia’s maritime hub.

Weerawansa says the Somali wives are hard workers but the men are too lazy to make a proper living. They go for easy money. Piracy for them means easy money. This is the way to live a sultan’s life, own the latest model of an expensive car and a new and pretty wife.

Young Somalians are highly impressed by this easy money spinning occupation.

Among the 28 sea pirates apprehended by the Indian navy after the aborted attack on the Korean vessel heading towards Sri Lanka recently, there had been six to seven underage pirates. The police believe they are below 18 years of age.

“This is the new trend in Somalia. Unless the super powers intervene, the situation is only going to get worse. Countries like Sri Lanka which are very much in the hope of expanding maritime operations will have a tough time in the future. Over 5000 ships call over at Colombo Port every year.

Somali pirates are ruthless killers and they operate in groups. Those who capture the ships are trained to do only that. Their mission will be over as soon as they overpower the crew and capture the vessel.

Then the Somalis force the captain to send out a message to the owners that the ship is captured and a ransom is sought. The second batch of pirates sail in. Their mission will be to sail the ship safely (with the help of the hostages) to some secret location along the Somali coast, to be hidden until the ransom is collected.

Once the delivery is accomplished, a different band of pirates take over. They will feed the hostages and make sure the ship is in order to be released back to its owners once their demands are met.

These pirates are rather ruthless. They kill their hostages mercilessly if their orders are defied.

Capt. Weerawansa once witnessed such a horrific drama. When he was under the arrest of the Somali landlords, a ship which was taken hostage was moored in. The Captain of the ship was called on to the bridge. The man was killed unceremoniously by slashing his throat with a sharp blade.

Capt. Weerawansa says the pirates have counterparts based in other countries where maritime operations via the infested route are coordinated. They tip off the pirates on potential targets as early as before the ships barely leave port. These third parties actively take part in ransom negotiations as well.

They don’t have to linger for long in the sea. The maximum waiting time is one week.

They get information from agents in Dubai or from the Gulf. On the other side when ships enter Suez Canal towards red sea, the pirates are tipped off by their agents.

They come in big wooden ‘dove’ boats. These can accommodate a lot of goods in their special cargo holes such as fast dinghy boats, weapons, food and water for even two months and stock pile fuel for a long stay at sea.

They maintain close contacts with Muslim extremists and terrorists from Yemen and others places like Al Qaeda.

Most captains are terrified of these terrorists because they carry powerful AK-47s and RPGs. If we don’t surrender, they can attack the bridge or the engine room and even sink the vessel.

The ships are allowed to carry a few weapons but we cannot match their fire power. Even the fast crafts/dinghy boats in which they swoop in are much faster than our vessels. They are powered by 250 hp out board motors. We try to alter our course and shake them off but we fail in most instances.

Their much faster crafts can catch up with us in about 30 minutes time.

The pirates most commonly pose as fishermen. As soon as they smell the prey they put out their dinghy boats from the mothership and start the chase.

Our radars cannot detect the threat until we come significantly closer to the pirates. When we feel the boats are heading directly towards us at a high speed we begin to suspect them’. There is no other way. The pirate craft about 30 - 40 miles away is just another dot on the radar.

They then surround the ship in dingy boats and shoot into the air hailing the vessel or the ship to stop.

Then they board the ship and summon the entire crew to the mess, demand the engineer to take the vessel to a given position (hide out position) and drop anchor.

Subsequently at gun point the crew is hurled into a saloon with their personal belongings are looted. Then, cellular phones are collected and all expensive belongings are looted. Then through the satellite phone they initiate contact with the ship’s owner and inform how much of ransom is money needed to release the crew and the ship.

There are naval war ships of NATO, US, European Union etc, operating in this pirate infested region. (A total of 28 nations jointly comb the Gulf of Aden where these pirates operate but the joint forces have not been able to eliminate their operations so far) If they are really serious about it, it would take only a few days for these super powers to eliminate Somali sea warlords. My personal opinion is that they do not want to. If not how can they station their war ships in the back yards of their rivals?

The joint patrols by Southeast Asian nations combatted and eliminated pirates that once plagued straight off Malacca, a vital route for oil tankers. So this is no mission impossible.

Our Forces eliminated the LTTE when everyone else thought it was impossible. The Somali pirates should be dealt with in the same way.You must fight fire with fire.

Capt. Weerawansa, now 64 years old is still an active seafarer. He returned to the country recently after a three month voyage as the skipper of a Dubai based cargo vessel.