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Somalia : Deterrent might be lost on piracy

By on May 10, 2010
Russia has released Somali pirates captured during the dramatic rescue of a Russian oil tanker earlier this week. The Russian defence ministry said the gang was freed because of “imperfections” in international law.

Russia initially said the 10 pirates would be taken to Moscow to face criminal charges over the hijacking.
The Moscow University vessel was seized on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden, off Yemen, as it sailed for China, carrying crude oil worth $50 million. Russian forces boarded the ship a day later. They had freed the Russian crew who locked themselves in a safe room, after disabling their ship. One pirate was killed during the gun battle that ensued. But the pirates were released because of “an incomplete international legal basis” to keep them detained.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Russia is a signatory, gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates. But the process is slow – lasting up to a year – and costly. An international solution has to be found, if not many more pirates will be released and the deterrent lost in one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, the Gulf of Aden…

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