fom SomaliaReport.com
No Room for Complacency
Citadels Must Be Appropriately Set Up to Work
By GLEN FORBES 10/12/2011
Glen Forbes is a former Royal Naval officer who runs our partner organization OCEANUSLive.org, a website aimed at promoting better communication between maritime vessels in dangerous environments.
MV Montecristo
Safe rooms, safety zones, safe muster points or citadels; whatever the viewpoint, they are becoming the de facto reaction to pirate attacks off Somalia in East Africa and the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa.
Military authorities and shipping associations have resolutely stated that citadels - let’s stick with that moniker - “should be complimentary to, rather than a replacement for, all other Ship Protection Measures set out in the eponymous Best Management Practice (version 4), BMP4” booklet.
The recent successes in the use of citadels have only gone to further endorse their reputation. Italian vessel, MV Montecristo, almost hijacked by Somali pirates, which was then rescued by UK and US Special Forces under NATO command, is one such good example. The other noteworthy case is the Norwegian product tanker, Northern Bell, which was boarded off Cotonou in Benin. The crew locked themselves in the engine room and contacted the Company Security Officer. The pirates left the ship and the crew were able to regain control the following day.
MV Arrilah I was boarded by 10 pirates earlier this year. The crew had withdrawn to the safe room. One crew member was slightly injured when a grenade was thrown down the funnel, which was connected to the safe room; smoke was used but the crew had breathing apparatus. They were able to control the ship from the safe room and continued to navigate the ship towards UAE waters with a coalition aircraft guiding them from nearby. What followed was a 30-hour siege until UAE and US forces stormed the ship on Saturday, April 2.
Hurrah! However, there are cases to demonstrate that successful employment of a citadel is not guaranteed. Returning to BMP4, a key point to bear in mind, even having applied the criterion stated is that, “the use of a citadel cannot guarantee a naval/military response.”
Cases in point – the Beluga Nomination was attacked in January this year approximately 390nm North of the Seychelles. The German owners described attempts to rescue the crew as a "disaster".
"The crew spent two and a half days in a reinforced room but nobody came to help them," they said.
Pirates had the time to break into the citadel, which called into question its positioning, but more importantly, whether the enforcement of the area was adequately prepared in light of the distance from any naval force.
Somali pirates hit the 22,600-dwt Pacific Express on September 20, and it was feared the ship had been taken. The crew had retreated to the citadel and were later rescued by an Italian warship. The vessel was abandoned approximately 87nm southeast of the hijack attempt location. In frustration at not getting their prey, the pirates set fire to the ship. The vessel was eventually towed into Mombasa, and the damage clearly
demonstrates the danger to the crew’s safety if rescue was not at hand.
There you have it; citadels in a nut ‘shell’ are good if they are appropriately prepared, fitted out with communications and sufficient provisions for a engthy stay. They are bad if they are not appropriately prepared, sighted and provisioned, and can become a tomb for the frightened crew. More mportantly, and following a combination of circumstances which are entirely possible, if a naval unit is unable to reach the target vessel in good
time (suggest 2 days maximum), and the pirates have access to flammable materials, be it already on board as they have freedom of the remainder of the ship, or they decide to utilize the fuel they carry on skiffs and
NATO/OTAN
motherships, then the fate of the crew does not bear thinking about.
Following recent comments that naval assets are likely to become more scarce in the region as austerity policies and other commitments take hold in 2012, the ‘go to’ response of citadels will become another aspect that the seafaring community will have to re-evaluate. There is no room for complacency.
Pacific Express on fire OCEANUSLive gave fair warning of the possibility as long ago as November 2010.
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