Proceedings Of The Marine

SPR 2012

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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Pirate or Criminal? A difference of location. by MRS. CHRISTINA GEISERT Lead Intelligence Analyst U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the difference between a maritime crime and an act of piracy, since both are challenging to designate, are based on loca- tion and description, and are often incorrectly attrib- uted. Essentially, an act of violence or illegal detention is considered "maritime crime" if the action occurs within the territorial waters of a state without the nation's penal code criminalizing the action as piracy. International Engagement In 1988, the Convention for the Suppression of Unlaw- ful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA convention) required that states prosecute acts of armed robbery as well as any other unlawful act that is not covered by the United Nations Convention RQ WKH /DZ RI WKH 6HD 81&/26 GHÀQLWLRQ RI SLUDF\ VHH VLGHEDU 7KLV FRQYHQWLRQ VSHFLÀFDOO\ PDQGDWHV prosecution if a criminal act is committed aboard or DJDLQVW D VKLS WKDW LV Á\LQJ WKH VWDWH·V ÁDJ RU LV LQ LWV territorial sea, or if the crime is committed by one of its nationals. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Inter- QDWLRQDO 0DULWLPH %XUHDX DOO GHÀQH PDULWLPH FULPH from the SUA convention and its subsequent proto- cols. The IMO and the U.N. have taken steps to assist member states that lack effective legislation. The aim: DJUHH RQ D XQLYHUVDO GHÀQLWLRQ RI WKH FULPH RI SLUDF\ enforcement measures, penalties, and liability and compensation provisions. For some U.N. member states, there has been prog- ress in the effort to thwart piracy and maritime crime at large. However, for those member states that lack piracy legislation, the problem of maritime attacks LV ÁXLG DQG HYHU SUHVHQW 6WDWHV IXUWKHU SODJXHG 32 Proceedings Spring 2012 with enforcement problems are faced with dynamic attackers. Maritime pirates and criminals recognize that there is a constant shift of open and unpoliced waters, requiring deference for those vessels that have introduced protective measures and the nations with enforcement capabilities. Analysts charged with the responsibility of tracking reported threats and trends of piracy and maritime crime may become confused with the differences in term characterization. A U.S. couple on a sailing vaca- tion could be easily categorized victims of piracy or maritime crime if their exact location at the time of the incident is unknown. For those victims, the effort to pinpoint their location to properly report the inci- dent is often neglected. Unfortunately, a minor differ- ence in location means a different designation. Analysis of Reported Piracy Historically, piracy has occurred all over the world. According to the International Chamber of Com- merce's International Maritime Bureau Piracy Report- LQJ &HQWUH; DWWDFNV ZHUH UHFRUGHG LQ WKH ÀUVW VL[ months of 2011, up from 196 incidents in the same period last year. Recently the areas of West Africa, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean near East Africa have been prominently featured as areas of concern due to attacks on commercial shipping vessels. These areas are known for their hijackings, with incidents occurring in coastal waters and as far as 1,000 nauti- cal miles offshore. In East African waters, organized groups of pirates employ advanced tactics and use "mother ships" to launch one or two small skiffs that may be armed with machine guns or rocket-propelled grenades. 7KHVH JURXSV DUH NQRZQ WR HLWKHU ÀUH XSRQ D WDUJHWHG www.uscg.mil/proceedings Prevention

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