30 March 2011 | CIL Seminar Series

Piracy trends & developments off the Horn of Africa: Challenges facing South East Asian navies engaged in counter piracy operations

Introduction

Piracy off the Horn of Africa shows no sign of abating and has in fact, only further evolved to confront containment strategies implemented by coalition naval forces. Since its dramatic increase in late 2005, pirates continue to challenge the seafaring community, Somali governance, and the international effort consisting of wide range of measures including coalition counter piracy patrols and United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Finally, piracy off the Horn of Africa is tactically changing every day making it one of the most effective and adaptive business models in maritime and transnational crime.

This presentation examined the evolution of Somali piracy and addressed the major changes in modus operandi and on-going trends occurring off the Horn of Africa. Acknowledging that the international coalition effort was merely one form of containment, this presentation addressed the key challenges that coalition navies were faced with concerning the evolving tactics and changing modus operandi of Somali pirates. South East Asian and Asia Pacific-nation counter-piracy operations were used as case studies throughout the presentation. Finally, the presentation addressed future trends in pirate operations and counter-piracy efforts both on land and at sea.

About the Speaker

Karsten is a Senior Analyst with Risk Intelligence as well as a Visiting Fellow with the Centre for International Law, University of Singapore. His research and interests cover both conventional and unconventional maritime security issues in the East and West African region as well as South East Asia with emphasis on syndicated criminal organizations, piracy, and trafficking (arms, drugs, and human) tactics and organizations. Karsten has written extensively on both Somali piracy as well as maritime security issues in South East Asia and has also presented at a number of international conferences on piracy, transnational crime, maritime law, boundary delimitation, and naval issues. Karsten holds a Masters in Strategic Studies and is also currently completing his PhD. Karsten has also served temporary postings at the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), on the Executive Board for the Canadian Consortium on Asia Pacific Security and Chaired its Maritime Security Task Group. Currently Karsten is an active member in the Maritime Security Working Group and the Transnational Crime Group with the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and its Canadian Delegation.