1. Introduction
2. Piracy
1) Territorial Zone: It is a zone that extends 12 Nautical Miles from the Coast and over which the State is free to set laws, regulate and use any resources. Vessels from other countries are given the right of “innocent passage”, i.e. “passing through waters in an expeditious and continuous manner not prejudicial to peace, good order or security of the Coastal State”.
2) Contiguous Zone: It is a zone that extends a further 12 nautical Miles beyond the territorial waters, or 24 nautical Miles from the Coast. Within the contiguous zone, a State can continue to enforce laws with respect to pollution, taxation, customs and immigration.
3) Continental Shelf: It is the natural prolongation of the land territory up to 350 Nautical Miles from the coastline baseline over which States also have the exclusive right to harvest minerals and nonliving material in the subsoil.
4) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): It is a sea zone over which a State has special and sole exploitation rights over all marine resources. EEZ extends 200 Nautical Miles from its coast and it includes territorial water, contiguous zone, and Continental Shelf.
“ (a) Any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) On the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) Against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) Any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b)” (UNCLOS, 1982).
3. Piracy: a huge economic impact
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
EU NAVFOR OperationAtalanta | NATO Operation Ocean Shield | CMF CTF 151 | Independent Deployers | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Surface Vessels | 5.5 | 2 | 1.75 | 9.5 |
Patrol aircrafts | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Helicopters | 5 |
Table 5
Table 6
4. Benefits for the pirates
Table 7
Table 8
5. The challenges of punitive measures against piracy
Table 9
MIN. SENTENCE | MAX. SENTENCE | MEAN | |
---|---|---|---|
GLOBAL | 4.5 | 60 | 18.85 |
EUROPE | 5 | 30 | 9.75 |
UNITED STATES | 30 | 60 | 29 |
REGIONAL | 4.5 | 60 | 23.88 |
Source : Kontorovich, 2012. The penalties for piracy
Table 10
LEVEL OF VIOLENCE | MIN. SENTENCE | MAX. SENTENCE | MEAN |
---|---|---|---|
ATTEMPT | 5 | 20 | 7.13 |
SHOTS FIRED | 4.5 | 60 | 8.59 |
DETENTION | 5.5 | 34 | 21.88 |
ASSOULT/INJURY | 5 | 24 | 29.5 |
DEATH | 13 | 60 | 34.33 |
Source : Kontorovich, 2012. The penalties for piracy