Maritime Piracy has proved to be
a great risk for all those at sea ! …
Enrica Lexie, is a Aframax tanker built in 2008 at Shanghai Waigaogiao,
has double hull, is Italy flagged, ABS classed – has LOA of 243 M, 14.82
draught bearing IMO no. 9489297. After
the hype of protest and diplomatic wrangling, two Italian guards, identified as
Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone from Italy ’s
San Marco Regiment, were reportedly arrested
in Kochi four days after the killing. There are reports that though the Police claimed
to have brought the captain of the immobilised Italian
ship to the ground, the captain Umberto Vitiello is yet to get out of
the ship. Some reports state that it is
mistaken identity of Italian attaché for captain.
Sure
the ships transitting the Arabian sea are at high risk in the piracy infested
waters but Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden can
never be classified in the same league alongside Kerala border. Even a misconceived notion of piracy appears to be an
elongated version of apprehension. But
immediately after the incident, Italy
sprang to the defence of perpetrators of killing and rushed its junior foreign minister to India in
the face of New Delhi 's
hardened stand while invoking its own extra-territorial jurisdiction to justify
the arrest of the Italian marine security guards accused of killing two Indian
fishermen. Asserting that the location of the ship did not matter, official
sources said IPC Section 4 ensured that the trial for any crime committed
against an Indian national on an Indian vessel can take place on its soil.
Trying
to add a new dimension to the killing of fishermen nearer the Indian coast, Italian
foreign minister Giulio Terzi stated that the arrest of the two mariners would
hamper international fight against piracy. While India or any Nation for that
matter will only be too willing to extend all possible International
cooperation in the fight against piracy, this unjustified killing in perceived
notion of anti-piracy needs to resolved graciously by exhibiting the facts
through various logs rather than trying to arrive at any solution forced by
diplomatic pressure. Italy had
earlier cited its own extra-territorial jurisdiction to claim exemption from
trial for the two naval officers who have been arrested. Italy
has sent its junior foreign minister
Staffan De Mistura to Delhi
to handle the situation. Until recently De Mistura was the UN's special
representative for Afghanistan .
It is reported in one section of the
Press that Italian diplomats are seeking the release of the two mariners on the
basis of assurances that they will come back to India whenever asked for.
Unlike
some Countries, where ship owners have had to resort to private security
forces, Italy had been assigning
military teams to protect its merchant vessels in the Indian Ocean last year
after a series of attacks by Somali pirates on Italian ships. It is true that Pirates operating in small fishing vessels and
fast motorboats have hijacked dozens of vessels in the region over recent
years, extracting millions of dollars in ransom. But no such incident had
occurred closer to Indian shore and whether the servicemen fired warning shots
into the water as a fishing vessel approached will have to be proved with log
support. To add to confusion, Italian
newspapers have speculated that the vessel which approached the Enrica Lexie
may not have been the same one as the boat on which the two fishermen were
killed.
The
vessel could be in for more trouble as the tanker has to pay over Rs 40 lakh to
the Cochin Port Trust as berth rent and other port related charges. The vessel, which was berthed at the Cochin Oil Terminal (COT) in
the wee hours of Friday for investigation purposes, was shifted off-shore on
Monday morning to make the tanker berth available to other ships. It is reported to be a global maritime practice and the payment of
charges cannot be disputed. The berthing
is a headache for the CPT and the BPCL Kochi Refinery in finding a suitable
berthing for scheduled arrivals. It was the oil company which literally bore
the brunt of the dilemma. The ship was
allotted berth by evacuating another tanker, Jag Prachi, which was about to start pumping furnace oil to the
BPCL-KRL when it was asked to go back to the outer channel and await further
orders. Some more vessels are waiting
outside and BPCL is incurring losses by way of demurrage for no fault of
theirs.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar .
Another matter to be noted is that the captain of the ship, who is in overall command,and without whose order the guards would not have resorted to shooting, is not arraigned. In every instance where a merchat vessel is involved in a crime, first the captain is taken into custody to prevent him from ordering elimination of any evidences.In Enrica Lexie case the captain is doing exactly the same and more.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time I am with kerala CM. If something is happening on our coastline, should state owned force remain tranquil till centre force arrival. Justice can be executed by centre or state force. Now will centre act wisely to punish Italian culprits?
ReplyDeleteYes Anand, I do agree with your views - P Varma
ReplyDelete