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The latest from OBP

3/20/12 - OBP Applauds the Joint Industry Contribution to Support Community Projects in Somalia
3/19/12 - Commonwealth of the Bahamas Signs Declaration Condemning Acts of Violence Against Seafarers, a.k.a. the Washington Declaration
3/19/12 - Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent Joins Oceans Beyond Piracy
3/13/12 - OBP at University of Denver's Sturm College of Law
3/13/12 - Coping with Capture, a handbook for hostages released

Featured Video

Upcoming events

May 15: IMO Conference on Capacity-building to Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia

May 16-25: IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) Meeting

June 27-28: Counter-Piracy Conference in the UAE

@Piracy_OBP on Twitter

Check out some of the footage from today's meeting of @TEDxMogadishu http://t.co/H8KrNA3Z
15 hours 24 min ago
South Africa signs @IMOHQ Djibouti Code of Conduct: http://t.co/LyvpWpxd
2 days 18 hours ago
Somali ldrs began convening constituent assembly in 1 step aimed to give Somalia long-awaited perm. govt. http://t.co/ozgfAr5r @VOAAfrica
3 days 17 hours ago
via @Reuters, @EUNAVFOR naval vessel rescued dhow held by Somali #pirates on Saturday http://t.co/SYoMyBTt
3 days 19 hours ago
Thank you for following! @Paulpelletier16 @greekdmzbn1 @rendezvouschoc @USCGAUXDIV15 @soc_net_intel
3 days 21 hours ago

Naval Operations

Improving: More robust operations, often close to the Somali coast, and better coordination with Independent Deployers decreased hijacking success rates. Additionally, EU NAVFOR Operation ATALANTA was extended through 2014. Read more...
Naval forces deployed to protect shipping from piracy in the Indian Ocean’s High Risk Area. Currently deployed are EU NAVFOR, NATO, CMF and Independent Deployers Read more...

Vessel Self-Protection

Improving: More effective ship hardening following BMP4 guidelines and use of private security guards defeated many individual attacks. Additionally, numerous pushes for guidelines for the use of private security guards have resulted in the release of GUARDCON, a standard contract developed by BIMCO for shipowners utilizing armed guards, and continued attention from Working Groups 2 and 3 of the Contact Group. Read more...
Measures taken by the shipping industry and flag states to reduce vessel vulnerability to piracy, including adherence to Best Management Practices and guards onboard vessels Read more...

Relieving the Plight of Seafarers

Deteriorating: While successful attacks are down and the number of hostages has dramatically fallen, the violence against those still held continues to worsen. Read more...
Efforts to mitigate impacts of piracy on seafarers, who risk being shot at, held hostage, and/or tortured, contributing to lasting physical or psychological effects  Read more...

Messaging Campaign

Unchanged: Messaging within Somalia as well as the international community remains largely uncoordinated. Read more...
Initiatives intended to influence public opinion of piracy, by encouraging harmonized, coordinated counter-piracy messaging and advocacy efforts, both within Somalia and with the International Community Read more...

Principles of the OBP project

Transparency: Oceans Beyond Piracy is committed to sharing research and analysis with stakeholders. Only through real transparency and a strong evidence base can we find a sustainable solution. Withholding relevant data will encourage parallel and duplicative efforts.

Inclusiveness: OBP believes solutions to maritime piracy must come from the stakeholders themselves.  Therefore OBP is engaging and working with all relevant stakeholders to find a solution to piracy.

Shared Commitment: We believe that finding solutions will be difficult and must involve commitment and investment by all stakeholders. Through the One Earth Future Foundation, OBP is personally and financially committed to sharing the burden of sustainable solutions to piracy.

Independence: OBP remains engaged and independent of any specific stakeholder or special interest group. We are privately financed, and our finances statements are available for public scrutiny.

 

Regional Response

Unchanged: Regional bodies announced the will to move forward, and the EU announced its commitment to assist in capacity building in East Africa. However, funding and implementation have lagged. Read more...
The leadership role in transitioning counter-piracy operations to regional nations through developing operational training programs and capacity-building and establishing cooperation and coordination mechanisms Read more...

Somali Engagement

Unchanged: The TFG’s recent gains in securing Mogadishu opened a window of opportunity to focus on building an organic capability to control piracy. TFG efforts are underway to implement the Somali Roadmap to End Transition and gains were made as a result of various meetings in Spring 2012. However, implementation of the Roadmap has been slow despite positive signs. Read more...
  Efforts to initiate and support counter-piracy efforts by Somali authorities, citizens, and organizations based on the understanding that a sustainable solution to piracy lies ashore  Read more...

Rule of Law

Unchanged: In spite of the increased number of prosecutions, and modest increases in regional nations’ capacities – navies continue to ‘catch and release’ suspected Somali pirates. The UN Secretary General has identified a funding gap of $20million needed to reach prosecution capacity. Read more...
  Efforts to curb piracy through the development of effective legal codes and judicial capacity. Progress will be measured by increases in effective prosecutions and pirates incarcerated Read more...

Coordination Process

Unchanged: Regular meetings of the Contact Group continue to encourage and increase public-private partnerships to combat piracy and to coordinate specific issues in counter-piracy initiatives. The UAE will host its second counter-piracy conference in June, which will put continued emphasis on public-private partnerships. Read more...
The development of coordination and de-confliction mechanisms of counter-piracy initiatives and encouragement of more effective information-sharing amongst active stakeholders Read more...

Become a member

Oceans Beyond Piracy encourages and welcomes dialogue from all visitors to our site. Join the Oceans Beyond Piracy Online Community to contribute to the ongoing conversation on contemporary maritime piracy and how to develop sustainable solutions to the problem. Registered users will have access to a discussion forum centering around eight primary focus areas for counter-piracy efforts. To sign up for a user account, click here.