Navy should provide protection to Indian cargo vessels operating in Red Sea

Indian Navy should provide escort to all the country’s cargo’ vessels passing through Red Sea channel in view of the frequent drone attacks on them, Mumbai based leading shipping association MAASA said in a memorandum submitted to the Union Ports and Shipping Ministry

The protection facility should be afforded to every Indian cargo vessel or the vessel which has Indian crew members on board or if it is an Indian flag vessel, the memorandum said

The Red Sea, which connects the eastern part of the globe to the western part through the Aden-Suez Canal corridor, is an extremely busy Maritime corridor which has come under severe attack recently from Yemen’s Houthi group.

Maritime piracy is a huge cause of concern for Indian seafarers who comprise around 11% global workforce. Currently, around 2.5 lakh Indian seafarers serve thousands of specialized cargo vessels across the globe as ratings (semi-skilled workers) and highly-skilled merchant navy officers.

Figures released by International Maritime Bureau states that in the last 10 months, there’s been over 10 per cent rise in serious incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery, and pirates armed with arms have been able to board around 90 per cent of the targeted cargo ships unfortunately putting the lives of seafarers on board the vessels in grave danger.

Recently, Indian Parliament passed an important Bill to provide an effective legal instrument to combat maritime piracy. The Bill provides for stringent punishment to those convicted of such crimes. The Bill enables Indian authorities to take action against piracy in the high seas. The Bill brings into law the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.  It applies to the sea beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), i.e., beyond 200 nautical miles from India’s coastline.