Enrica Lexie

Two Italian marines, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, are in an Indian jail awaiting trial for the alleged murder of two Indian fisherman. They are at the center of a legal & diplomatic fight over the use of armed guards on merchant ships to combat pirates. On February 15th, as members of an Italian navy Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) on board the oil tanker MV Enrica Lexie, the marines shot and killed two Indian fishermen that they mistook for pirates. Over the weekend, the Italian government recalled its envoy from New Delhi to protest the Indian government’s handling of the case.

Italy says envoy recall signals “strong displeasure” with India

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is calling for a new set of voluntary guidelines on the use of armed guards aboard ships.  As we posted last week,  a “private navy” of armed patrol boats, funded by the insurance industry, is being fitted out to provide escort services in the Gulf of Aden to protect against pirate attack.  Thus far at least, no merchant version with private guards aboard has been successfully hijacked by Somali pirates.

As reported by Bloomberg:

Since 2008, gangs of Somali pirates linked to clans in the failed state on the eastern coast of Africa have carried out more than 800 attacks on ships, from private yachts to oil supertankers. Pirates hijacked more than 170 of those vessels, taking hostage some 3,400 seafarers and killing 25, according to Intercargo, an industry group representing global owners of dry cargo vessels.

Maritime piracy cost the global economy roughly $7 billion, including $530 million spent on private armed guards, according to Oceans Beyond Piracy, a project of Broomfield, Colorado-based non-profit One Earth Future Foundation. The pirate groups earned about $160 million last year through ransom payments for vessels and crew.