Piracy - Save our Seafarers Campaign

Several leading shipping industry organisations, including the International Group of P&I Clubs, are supporting the Save our Seafarers campaign which urges governments to take a tougher stance against piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The campaign has six key priorities:

• Reducing the effectiveness of the easily identifiable mother ships
• Authorising naval forces to hold pirates and deliver them for prosecution and punishment
• Fully criminalising all acts of piracy and intent to commit piracy under national laws, in accordance with their mandatory duty to co-operate to suppress piracy under international conventions
• Increasing naval assets available in the affected areas
• Providing greater protection and support for seafarers
• Tracing and criminalising the organisers and financiers behind the criminal networks

Members are encouraged to visit the Save our Seafarers website and express their support by using the facility for interested parties to send a letter to their governments regarding the need for action.