By Martin Banks - 15th June 2011
It appears to be all doom and gloom
Andy Price
A major shipping conference was told that the international community, including the EU, is "decades away" from tackling maritime piracy.
Andy Price, of the EU's naval force in Somalia, admitted that the problem of piracy was becoming a "pandemic".
Price, a British Royal Marine, said the problem could even get worse as national governments continue to cut their defence budgets.
Even so, he pointed out that there has been some success in tackling piracy.
In 2008, one in two piracy attacks were successful but, he said, this figure had now dropped to 15 per cent.
"It appears to be all doom and gloom", he conceded, "but, as can be seen from these figures, there is still room for optimism".
He was speaking on Wednesday at a conference, organised by the European cruise industry.
The one-day conference brought together experts from the industry and other stakeholders for an overview of the whole sector.
Price, who is based in the UK, said that measures such as barbed wire and netting on ships had provided some form of protection.
But he warned that, in future, more and more ships would have to carry armed security guards in order to protect themselves from piracy.
He said, "Ship protection is the single most efficient counter to piracy attacks but, even here, more can be done."
The naval task force, which includes armed sniper teams, was set up by the EU two years ago to help combat the growing problems of maritime piracy, particularly off the coast of Somalia.
Price told the conference, "We have to protect international shipping, but I have to say that, at present, there is nothing we can do to actually stop piracy.
"We are decades away from devising a counter-piracy strategy. A problem that is currently endemic is becoming pandemic. No solution is in sight."
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