Piracy scourge affecting India’s merchandise trade
But these are exceptional times. Besides his family, Singh has repeatedly called four of his banks back in India and requested that all his credit and debit cards be blocked. Singh’s, and his 24 fellow crew members’, panic is understandable. This year alone, about 98 ships have been attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, roughly one every three days.
What’s worse, almost a third of those attacked have been taken hostage for ransoms ranging from $1.5 million to $2 million (Rs 7.5 crore to Rs 10 crore). Fortunately, though no hostage has been killed so far, as many as 18 ships remain in captivity in Eyl in Puntland, Somalia including the Hong Kong chemical tanker, MV Biscagalia, with 25 Indians on board.
Though no Indian flag carrier has been taken hostage in the pirate infested Gulf of Aden in the last three years, the piracy scourge is already becoming a concern for the approximately $250 billion Indian merchandise trade that passes through the Suez canal every year.
The affected include companies across the entire trade chain, exporters, importers, ship owners, crew manning agencies to port operators. Cost escalation on account of delays, detours, rise in insurance premiums on cargo and crew augur ill for the India’s foreign trade at a time when it is already slowing down due to global economic contraction.
Says S S Kulkarni, secretary general of Indian National Shipowners Association (INSA), “The Gulf of Aden is an important route as majority of our exports with the US and Europe pass through it. A blockade in these routes can immediately lead to a rise in inflation in India. We are also seeing lot of stress amongst crew on ships bound towards Gulf of Aden.”
The Fear Factor
Currently, India has about 180 shipping companies with about 880 vessels. Already Indian shipping companies and manning agencies are facing a unique problem of finding crew to operate ships plying the Gulf of Aden.
A few weeks back, a large, Mumbai-based Indian shipping company faced a crisis. One of its ships changed route mid-course Indian Ocean and docked near Oman. The captain apparently was under pressure from his crew members who were unwilling to ply the Gulf of Aden. Finally, after a five-day delay, the ship continued on its original route, albeit with a new crew which was flown in from various cities in India.
Says Anil Mohan Mathur, MD of Orient Ship Management & Manning, a Mumbai-based ship manning agency: “Our crew mostly plies on ships northward of Mediterranean in Europe. For ships plying on high-risk routes, the crew have the right to refusal to operate in such areas as they are covered under union agreement. And if they do ply, the crew is entitled to a risk-prone allowance.”
Source : economictimes
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