Russian Navy plans to dispatch 5 anti-piracy task units – RADM Shtukaturov

16.03.2011 Problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden becomes increasingly serious. Rear Admiral Alexander Shtukaturov told about Russia's participation in the anti-piracy campaign and possible international legal remedies for the problem in his interview to Russian Maritime Review.

"As of early 2011, amount of captured ships and sailors has reached the peak point – 28 and 633 respectively. This is associated with widely applied practice of using hijacked vessels as mother ships. Russian Navy command and leadership of international anti-piracy operations are well-informed about location of such mother ships and their names. However, it does not make possible to arrange effective extermination of pirates. When a warship approaches to a mother ship, pirates threaten to kill the crew and force a warship's commanding officer to abandon active actions", said Rear Admiral Alexander Shtukaturov.

Russian Navy secures national shipping in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia in accordance with the presidential task given in Sept 3, 2008. As experience shows, sea-going ships armed with helicopters are most effective against pirates. Basic method used by Russian warships is escorting of convoys along assigned routes. Russian-secured corridor is much longer than safety zones of other multinational forces. No vessels have been captured in Russian security corridor, in contrast to international corridor where another protection method is used – area patrols. Our warships several times successfully repelled pirate assaults, some pirates were detained. Since Dec 24, 2010 these those are performed by Pacific Fleet's large ASW ship Admiral Vinogradov which has escorted 52 foreign and 22 Russian-crewed vessels. In 2011 it is planned to conduct about 5 anti-piracy missions by means of Northern and Pacific fleets.

"The main problem is still unresolved question about detained pirates' criminal prosecution. Establishment of an international judicial instance dealing with piracy cases or conclusion of bilateral agreements with regional states could be a solution to the problem. Founding an international anti-piracy authority can be realized by accepting of UN Security Council's resolution in accordance with the UN Charter. This issue is being debated within a framework of UN Contact Group. By the way, the sessions are attended by representatives of Russian Navy command", emphasized Rear Admiral A. Shtukaturov.