Italy uses military to guard its ships

13 Oct 2011

Italy is to deploy naval forces on merchant vessels to protect them from Somali pirates after another Italian vessel was hijacked off the east African country. Many international ships are already carrying specially armed private security contractors to counter the surge of Somali piracy.

Business Live reports that Italy's Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, says the deployment of military forces will boost measures to defend ships against armed attackers.

Governments from a number of European and Asian countries have been concerned about the legitimacy of using lethal force against pirates operating in international waters.

La Russa says the forces will be divided into 10 groups of six specially trained seamen onboard ships sailing through the Gulf of Aden. The naval forces will be deployed in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

However, many of the Somali pirates operate hundreds of miles off the coast in vast tracts of empty ocean. They use large 'mother ships' to deploy smaller vessels carrying men armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

The Montecristo, a 55 675-ton bulk carrier was attacked by five men about a thousand kilometres off the Horn of Africa earlier this week.

The Financial Times quotes Italy's Foreign Ministry as saying that UK and US naval forces stormed the Montecristo on Tuesday, freeing the 23-man crew, none of whom had been harmed.

The crew, together with members of a private security force had taken refuge inside an armoured area of the ship and continued to sail the vessel despite having pirates on board.

A decree allowing the use of private security contractors and military forces was passed by the Italian Parliament in response to the latest attack.

Shipowners will pay the costs of deploying the naval force.

Read the full article on www.businesslive.co.za.
Read the full article on www.ft.com.