India has no sea piracy law

There is a new danger lurking beyond Mumbai shores, and it is threatening to sink the country’s maritime business as many international shipping associations have threatened to stop using the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Arabian sea route after the growing number of piracy and hijacking attempts on merchant vessels.

To curb this menace before it becomes unmanageable, other than deployment of security forces in the high seas, there is an urgent need to frame a specific prosecution law against sea pirates.

India was among the first countries to deploy warships in the Gulf of Aden after a spate of piracy attempts along the crucial trade route. The heavy patrolling of Gulf of Aden forced the pirates to expand their operations to the Arabian Sea and IOR, so much that around 30 to 40 attacks have been reported in this region in the last two months alone.

The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have tried to do their best to keep piracy out of Indian waters, and in a joint operation on January 28, nabbed 15 pirates and sunk their mother vessel. They were brought to Mumbai, but in the absence of a specific law pertaining to piracy, have been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Foreigners Act.

On February 6, 20 more pirates were cornered, and are being brought to the city along with the seized mother vessel and rescued hostages. In this case also, similar action will be initiated by the Yellow Gate police.

A senior Coast Guard officer said, “The operations carried out on January 28 and February 6 are stricter compared to earlier cases wherein pirates were disarmed and then let go with a small boat with enough fuel to reach their homeland. In these two cases, however, they were brought to the Indian soil and a trial is being conducted against them.”