afrol News, 5 May - The government of Kenya has announced its commitment to the "eradication of pirate attacks against ships off the coast of Somalia." A maritime rescue centre today was set up in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa and is to provide a rapid response to the growing number of pirate attacks in Somali waters. The pirates have jeopardised food aid deliveries to Somalia, but also threaten maritime traffic at large in the region.

Also Kenya has felt economic consequences of the increasing rate of pirate attacks on shipping in Somali waters, leading to less traffic at higher costs. Somalia is located just north of Kenya, in the middle of the historically much trafficked route from East Africa to the Red Sea and to the Arabian Peninsula and Asia.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki yesterday met with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos in Nairobi to welcome the IMO's new operations in Kenya. President Kibaki promised Mr Mitropoulos that Kenya would "work closely with the IMO and other member states in curbing piracy off Somalia's coast." The Somali piracy had "adversely affected our maritime activities," President Kibaki added.

After meeting the Kenyan President, Mr Mitropoulos went on to the country's main port and second city, Mombasa, located some 300 kilometres south-west from the Somali border. Here, the IMO leader today inaugurated the Search and Rescue Regional Centre in Mombasa, which is to get a key role in fighting piracy in the region, using modern satellite technology to detect pirates.

The Mombasa rescue centre "will provide search and rescue coverage" in a region that is highly threatened by pirates, the IMO explains. The Mombasa centre is also the first in a line of five new IMO rescue centres to be opened in the western, southern and eastern parts of Africa, responding to increased maritime traffic in African waters and international pressure to increase maritime security also in this continent. A second centre is expected to be inaugurated in Cape Town, South Africa, later this year, while three in West Africa are currently at the planning stage.

President Kibaki applauded the IMO initiative to make Indian Ocean waters safer for maritime traffic. "We are determined to work with other member states of the IMO to eradicate the pirate attacks which have adversely affected our maritime activities," President Kibaki told Mr Mitropoulos.

Piracy has grown into a major business off the coast of Somalia, a country that has lacked a central government for 15 years. Only during the last 12 months, some 40 ships have been hijacked in Somali waters, including a cruise ship with tourists. The pirates however also have hijacked ships carrying food aid for Somali famine victims, making it necessary to send such aid overland.

Without a government and navy in control of Somalia and its waters, pirates have been able to operate with impunity until recently. During the last year, however, the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland has tried to stop piracy at the entrance to the Red Sea while US warships have made some successful detentions of pirate vessels, shipping the criminals to a Mombasa court.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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