The latest incident of hijacking of a ship with Indian crew in the Gulf of Aden once again underlines the enormity of piracy menace in the area. But what is causing worry is that the malaise is spreading. Even though the pirates have set the crew and ship free, the latest incident is the 33rd in the last three months, sources in the Navy said. What is worrying the countries providing security in the sea-lanes is that there has been an incident some 300 to 500 miles east of Kenya this year.
Newer areas
"With the Gulf of Aden coming under increased surveillance by different countries, it shows that the pirates are spreading their activities to newer areas away from the region," the sources said.
Adding to the discomfort is an analysis of data for 2008, which recorded 140 incidents in Africa, of which 104 occurred in the Gulf of Aden region. For India, trouble compounds on a strategic level since of the 29 incidents recorded in South East Asia region, 23 were in the region near Indonesia.
The sources said that during 2008, Indian exports worth $60 billion and imports worth $50 billion passed through the Gulf of Aden. The Navy was providing escort services to ships that transit through this sea lane.
On an average, some 24 Indian ships pass through this area every month. Often there is a situation when the ship is flying the flag of another country but has Indian crew. Or a foreign liner with a foreign crew could be ferrying Indian goods. This is outside of the Indian ships carrying foreign cargo; the permutations and combinations can be bewildering.India has some 837 registered liners but 87 per cent of Indian merchandise is carried by liners flying another flag.