海盜的世界

近日東非索馬里(Somalia)的海盜劫持油輪事件，亦反映現代海盜活動已成為經濟和國際航運安全的問題。

索馬里海盜劫持油輪事件的大概是這樣的:
一艘噸位相當於三艘航空母艦的沙特阿拉伯超級油輪「天狼星號」在索馬裡海域遭到海盜劫持，該油輪裝載有價值1億美元的原油。

海盜通過西方媒體向沙特政府索取2500萬美元贖金，限期10日內交付(11月30日)，否則將面臨「嚴重後果」。不過有沙特官員截聽到海盜想「最少要求1000萬美元贖金」。沙特公司目前正和海盜談判，力求降低贖金金額。


可能大家會有興趣知道為何各國對事件那麼緊張，其中主要原因是位於埃及(Egypt)附近的蘇伊士運河(Suez Canal)是貫通歐亞兩地的「海上通道」，而索馬里對出的「Gulf of Aden」是必經之路。然而，飽受貧窮和戰爭折磨的索馬里並無力維持海上的治安，因此索馬里亦成為海盜出沒的熱點。從航運的角度看，蘇伊士運河是歐亞海運的首選路線，若然不經此運河的話，便需要多花大約一星期的時間行走南非(South Africa)對出的好望角(Cape of Good Hope)路線，亦暗示額外的燃料成本和時間。

不講大家可能下知，東南亞的繁忙航運路線「馬六甲海峽 (Strait of Malacca)」是另一著名海盜出沒處，馬六甲海峽多年以來由星加坡、印尼和馬來西亞三國聯手負責海上反海盜行動 。

隨著經濟轉差，環球航運業亦隨之而滑落，不排除會有海員將會落海為盜(些船公司的人會做「內鬼」)，同時間各國投放於「海防」的經費亦會減少，進一步令海盜活動「無王管」。

「National Geographic」有一期曾經探究馬六甲海峽的海盜問題，其中從在獄中的落網海盜得知固中手法:
1) 於一些三不管的地方收風、集資和班馬(註: 海員和海盜兩身份有時侯幾難分辨)
2) 買通船公司的「內鬼」刺探航班資料
3) 跟據內鬼的情報，再運用簡單的三角學算術，計算目標船隻的大約地點
4) 帶齊人馬乘坐中小型的海盜船的截擊目標
5) 以純熟的技術潛進船內快速制服船員......

有見及此，各國有責任維持海上航運的安全，不然的話海上貿易的風險和成本上升，則對大家都不好。


海盜的泠知識:
(待續)


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Indian Navy Sinks Pirate Craft Off Aden
(FT; 20 Nov 08)

India has flexed its maritime muscles by destroying a pirate boat in the Gulf of Aden as part of an international effort to combat a rising tide of hijacks of merchant shipping.

An Indian frigate sunk a pirate vessel on Tuesday night after the pirates threatened to attack, the navy said yesterday. The encounter is the second this month in which Indian forces have repulsed such threats in the area.

The development comes as the rising incidence of piracy off Somalia begins to affect shipping costs for exporters and insurance for shipowners.

Taiwan's TMT, a big operator of dry bulk ships and tankers, yesterday became the latest shipping company to say it was considering avoiding the Gulf of Aden and taking goods bound for Europe and the US around the Cape of Good Hope instead.

India is fast emerging as a maritime nation. Deployment in the Gulf of Aden extends its navy's reach across the Indian Ocean, whose sea lanes are crucial to trade for one of the world's fastest growing economies.

One of the largest contributors to United Nations peacekeeping missions, India is modernising its armed forces. It plans to add aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines to its fleet.


Piracy
(FT LEX: 18 Nov 08)

Julius Caesar took an unorthodox attitude towards piracy. Captured
in 75BC, he argued his ransom was insultingly low. His captors hit the jackpot – otherwise known as 50 talents back then – but paid for it with their lives, according to Plutarch. Today's bands of pirates plaguing the Gulf of Aden are also driven by the lure of ransom money. So far, they have largely gotten away with it, but the latest outrage – the hijacking of a vast oil tanker – will surely galvanise the international community into further action.

The costs of piracy quickly add up. There is the human cost as crew members are taken hostage. An estimated US$100m has already been paid in ransoms this year. There is also a growing economic cost. Most obviously insurance rates will go up, and with that surcharges on ships that use the Gulf of Aden en route to the Suez Canal, which accounts for about 10 per cent of world trade. The greater economic impact, though, will come from ships opting for the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, adding days or even weeks to a ship's journey. Yet this is no guarantee of safety by itself: the capture of the super-tanker happened on just this route