Arming merchant ships, as suggested by the international naval task force patrolling waters off Somalia, would risk the lives of crewmen and increase violence from pirates, said an international shipping group demanding UN action.
"Since 9/11, the international shipping industry has spent billions of dollars to comply with stringent new security requirements. Yet when merchant ships are subject to attack by pirates, the response is that the ships should hire mercenaries to protect themselves," said the group.
"It would also be illegal under the national law of many ships' flag states and in many of the countries to which they are trading," said a statement from the group made up of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), Intercargo, the International Chamber of Shipping, International and the International Shipping Federation and INTERTANKO.
"Pirates are attacking ships daily with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades, and currently holding over 200 seafarers hostage. The pirates are operating with impunity and governments stand idly by," said the group.
"The industry understands that military resources are stretched and that the Coalition Task Force is doing what it can, consistent with current rules of engagement provided by participating governments," said the statement.
The naval force, called the Combined Task Force 150, is composed of some 15 ships. Among them have been the destroyer USS Ramage, the cruiser USS Bunker Hill, destroyer USS James E Williams and the landing ship dock USS Carter Hall as well as aircraft and support facilities from Canada, which has provided the frigate HMCS Charlottetown, France with the frigate Le Commandant Bouan and Spain with the frigate Mendez Nunez and a P-3 Orion aircraft.
But the world shipping lobby says Task Force 150 is not given orders to attack the pirates. "Governments must issue clear rules of engagement to allow naval forces to intercept and take appropriate action against pirates, and the oceangoing motherships from which the pirates operate," said the group.
If no action is taken, the lobby said major shipping companies will avoid the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and Suez Canal and direct ships via the Cape of Good Hope, said the statement.
"This would add several weeks to voyages and have severe consequences for international trade, the maintenance of inventories and the price of fuel and raw materials. This in the current economic climate, must surely be avoided," said the group.
"If civil aircraft were being hijacked on a daily basis, the response of governments would be very different. This apparent indifference to the lives of seafarers is simply unacceptable.
"The shipping industry is amazed that the world's leading nations, with the naval resources at their disposal, are unable to maintain the security of one of the world's most strategically important seaways, linking Europe to Asia via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal," said the group statement.
"Since 9/11, the international shipping industry has spent billions of dollars to comply with stringent new security requirements. Yet when merchant ships are subject to attack by pirates, the response is that the ships should hire mercenaries to protect themselves," said the group.
"It would also be illegal under the national law of many ships' flag states and in many of the countries to which they are trading," said a statement from the group made up of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), Intercargo, the International Chamber of Shipping, International and the International Shipping Federation and INTERTANKO.
"Pirates are attacking ships daily with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades, and currently holding over 200 seafarers hostage. The pirates are operating with impunity and governments stand idly by," said the group.
"The industry understands that military resources are stretched and that the Coalition Task Force is doing what it can, consistent with current rules of engagement provided by participating governments," said the statement.
The naval force, called the Combined Task Force 150, is composed of some 15 ships. Among them have been the destroyer USS Ramage, the cruiser USS Bunker Hill, destroyer USS James E Williams and the landing ship dock USS Carter Hall as well as aircraft and support facilities from Canada, which has provided the frigate HMCS Charlottetown, France with the frigate Le Commandant Bouan and Spain with the frigate Mendez Nunez and a P-3 Orion aircraft.
But the world shipping lobby says Task Force 150 is not given orders to attack the pirates. "Governments must issue clear rules of engagement to allow naval forces to intercept and take appropriate action against pirates, and the oceangoing motherships from which the pirates operate," said the group.
If no action is taken, the lobby said major shipping companies will avoid the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and Suez Canal and direct ships via the Cape of Good Hope, said the statement.
"This would add several weeks to voyages and have severe consequences for international trade, the maintenance of inventories and the price of fuel and raw materials. This in the current economic climate, must surely be avoided," said the group.
"If civil aircraft were being hijacked on a daily basis, the response of governments would be very different. This apparent indifference to the lives of seafarers is simply unacceptable.
"The shipping industry is amazed that the world's leading nations, with the naval resources at their disposal, are unable to maintain the security of one of the world's most strategically important seaways, linking Europe to Asia via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal," said the group statement.