Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia Meets in New York

The press statement in full, from here:

The United States will join partners from 60 countries and international organizations at the United Nations in New York November 10 for a plenary meeting of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a growing diplomatic effort that is making steady progress against criminals targeting Africa-bound humanitarian aid shipments and other vessels transiting one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors.

The plenary, hosted by South Korea, will be the seventh gathering of this unique international partnership, which was established following the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1851 to coordinate an effective international response to piracy in the Somali Basin and surrounding waters. Since its initial meeting in January 2009, the Contact Group has nearly doubled in size - a testament to the global consensus that piracy poses a shared security challenge to maritime safety.

Among its accomplishments, the Contact Group has:

• Facilitated the operational coordination of an unprecedented international naval effort from 20 countries working together to escort vessels and patrol the vast waters of the region. The United States coordinates with NATO and the European Union in these efforts, and also looks to further develop counter-piracy cooperation with countries like China, India, Japan, and Russia.
• Partnered with the shipping industry to improve practical steps merchant ships can take to avoid, deter, or delay pirate attacks, which have proven an effective deterrent and leading factor in the declining success rate of pirate attacks.
• Supported the creation of a Trust Fund at the United Nations to defray expenses related to prosecuting suspected and imprisoning convicted pirates and other Contact Group initiatives. The United States supports capacity-building programs to help countries in the region and elsewhere become more self-sufficient in confronting pirate attacks and prosecuting suspected pirate and their enablers and imprisoning those convicted.

If you missed it, you really should read the thought-provoking speech by Stephen M. Carmel given at the United States Naval Institute History Conference. Mr. Carmel is Senior Vice President, Maersk Line, Limited, and he thoroughly shot holes in all comparisons that linked piracy today to piracy of 2 centuries ago.

More importantly though, Stephen Carmel's speech dives into the details how piracy has to date made an insignificant, almost unmeasurable impact on the global sea trade system, and his speech really highlights the resilience of sea trade within the global economic system today.

The methods today how piracy is being dealt with off Somalia may not be a solution that a moralist finds acceptable, but the industry concern is the crews being held hostage, and absent a long term solution - the ransom condition of today is a functional system. Process matters more than anything, and the process of getting hostage home alive is what makes the existing system functional.

I believe the argument to deal with piracy needs to start by stating loud and clear - “there is no solution to piracy; the solution to piracy will occur when there is a solution found for Somalia.”

Now, what is the solution to Somalia? Some folks don't want to hear it, but that question is best answered by the State Department first, and DoD second.

Since we all know the Somalia problem has no solution today that is politically acceptable, the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia remains very important as a cooperative international approach to mitigate the challenge of maritime piracy as best as can be done with a clear understanding that the objective of the group is not to solve the piracy problem - rather manage that symptom of the Somalia problem.