Indonesian Seafarers Join Struggle Against Somali Pirates

“Every country has been urged to care for and be proactive in the fight against pirates, who frequently take ship crew members hostage,” Hanafi Rustandi, the president of the Indonesian Seafarers’ Association (KPI), said in a press statement on Sunday.

The End Piracy Now petition, presented on UN-designated World Maritime Day, Sept. 23, was drawn up by a coalition of 14 seafarers’ unions, trade organizations, insurance companies and other bodies, with support from shipowners, trade unions and welfare organizations.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has collected around 920,000 signatories from 185 countries to support the petition calling for action to end Somali piracy.

“Originally intended to achieve half a million signatures, it has far exceeded that figure and definitively proves that immediate action is needed,” the ITF said in a statement.

The KPI and other world seafarer groups hope that the petition could help stop piracy on the seas, a crime that inflicts suffering on seafarers, Hanafi said.

The International Maritime Organization has declared 2010 the Year of the Seafarer, which is the profession of about 1.5 million people worldwide.

The petition was launched in June this year “as the centerpiece of a campaign to persuade all governments to commit the resources necessary to end the increasing problem of Somalia-based piracy.

It has become a serious problem for tankers carrying oil, petrochemicals and dry bulk commodities around the Gulf of Aden, the east coast of Africa and around Southeast Asia.

The ITF is a global union federation whose membership comprises 759 unions representing over 4,600,000 transport workers in 155 countries.

A number of Indonesian sailors have been held by pirates in recent attacks. On Jan. 1, Somali pirates seized the MV Pramoni, a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker, with 17 Indonesian crew members aboard.

The ship was released after its owners reportedly paid an undisclosed ransom.

On March 31, 12 Indonesians were among those aboard the Taiwanese fishing boat, Jih Chun Tsai 68, which was seized by Somali pirates.

Source:thejakartaglobe.com