Rev Marsh Luther Drege, right, pastor of Seafarers and International House, presents the 2011 Outstanding Friend of Seafarers Award to Joe Cox, Chamber of Shipping of America president.
Seafarers only reason why ransoms continue to be paid, says CSA president CHAMBER of Shipping of America president Joseph Cox has called for a well-defined "strategic partnership" between international governments and navies to monitor and neutralise pirate motherships, because this is the only way in which seafarers' lives and safety could be protected.
However, while he believes it is very important to draw governments' attention to this issue, he does not support pre-emptive attacks by naval forces on motherships, even if such actions are taken under UN auspices.
"There are seafarers onboard those motherships as well, and we wish no harm on them," Mr Cox told Lloyd's List on the sidelines of the annual Setting the Course banquet organised in New York by Seafarers and International House, the Lutheran mission to seafarers.
Mr Cox's comments add to a variety of opinions expressed on the issue of interdiction of motherships, whose menace essentially is spread along the entire Indian Ocean, which makes them difficult to track and neutralise.
BW Group chairman Helmut Sohmen last week came out in support of a formal UN resolution that would establish ground rules for pre-emptive offensive action by "selected" navies, on grounds that piracy hurts world trade.
Mr Cox said CSA's stance through the past three years always has been that it primarily is the shipowner's responsibility to do everything within their powers, including the use of armed guards onboard if needed, to protect their seafarers, as recommended by best management practice.
"However, individual shipowners' best efforts are never going to be enough unless governments wake up and take action," Mr Cox said.
He said the presence of seafarers onboard ships was the only reason why multi-million dollar ransoms continue to change hands, the payment of which continues to make pirates more emboldened and brazen.
"If there were no seafarers, no one would pay any ransom merely for the ship or the cargo; these are well covered by insurance," Mr Cox said.
Through history piracy always was understood as the ship and its cargo becoming the property of the pirates, Mr Cox said. The modern-day definition was not the same at all, primarily because of insurance. However, the modern seafarer suffers in the same way as before.
