The merchant captain who was rescued from a lifeboat after being held by Somali pirates for five days in the Indian Ocean pushed senators on Thursday to consider using the U.S. military to protect ships like his from coming under attack.
“The most desirable and appropriate solution to piracy is for the United States government to provide protection, through military escorts and/or military detachments aboard U.S. vessels,” said Richard Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Phillips said the military option was not a “silver bullet” solution and also suggested using methods to “harden the vessel,” or make ships more difficult to board, as part of a comprehensive plan to combat the increasing attacks in the waters in the Horn of Africa region.
Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) pressed Phillips and Maersk chairman John Clancey to consider arming members of the crew to defend themselves in the event of an attack.
And when Clancey objected, saying that many of the laws governing other country’s ports and waters prohibit crews from carrying weapons, Kerry suggested amending international convention to allow for such carrying.
Phillips told Kerry that he thought the attack on his ship, which resulted in his capture, could have been deterred if they had at least two highly trained former Special Forces soldiers on board to defend the ship.
“Understand, it’s not a mall cop that I’m looking for,” he told the committee.
Thursday’s suggestions closely mirrored comments made by Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, last Friday at a House hearing.
“I think (maritime shipping companies) are going to have to take a very hard look at not just taking additional defensive preparations in terms of just simple things like concertina wire to make it harder to climb over the side or up over a railing but also looking at the employment of armed guards or security forces. …I think that’s something they’re going to have to look hard at,” Petraeus said.
Phillips’ capture drew the national spotlight to the region, which has long been plagued with maritime unrest. Phillips was freed and all but one of his captors killed by sniper fire in a dramatic Easter Sunday rescue operation by the U.S. Navy.
There were 111 attacks in the waters in the Horn of Africa region in 2008, which was nearly double the number that occurred in 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
As of last week there had been 84 attacks this year.
Approximately 300 non-U.S. crew members on 18 vessels remain in Somali captivity following hijackings, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service released last week.
In a move similar to Phillips’ proposal, Belgium announced on Thursday that it is sending teams of soldiers to provide merchant ships with onboard protection off the coast of Somalia. The military action comes in response to the capture of a Belgian ship and its 10-person crew by Somali pirates two weeks ago. Belgian officials are still trying to negotiate the ship's release.
Like Obama, Phillips and Clancey stressed the importance on Thursday of an international solution and diplomatic cooperation to effectively combat piracy.
Harold Koh, the State Department’s nominee for legal adviser, emphasized an international role earlier this week at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
“It’s a global challenge, and to address it you need a global law,” he said. “There’s no problem with doing it alone. It’s just that it’s not nearly as effective. If there are 193 countries in the world, one country can’t stop all the pirates."
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