30 January 2015
Bilbao Campus
Lecturer in Public International Law and International Organization at the UD, Antonio Manrique de Luna, tackled the subject of Basque merchant and fishing ships’ security when sailing Somalian waters. He also remarked on the efficiency of the UE’s surveillance.
As a starting point for his article, Manrique presents this image of Somalia: “An African country which has become notorious for the different cases of maritime piracy affecting international ships in its territory.”
Among the victims of this piracy, he cites examples of "fishing boats of Basque origin (Alakrana, Playa de Bakio and Izurdia) and their crews who were attacked while sailing the Indian Ocean.
He refers to jurisprudence to recriminate maritime piracy, citing article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which defines this activity as: “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 on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State”.
Along these lines, Manrique de Luna pointed out that the “European Union approved Common Action 851 which authorised the European Union’s first maritime operation within the framework of the Common Security and Defence and was called “Atalanta”. It has been extended until December 12 2016 with the aim of protecting fishing and merchant fleets from Somalian attacks".
He finished by stating that among the surveillance activities performed by the European Union and other international organizations, acts of maritime piracy have decreased and the alleged perpetrators have been taken before the courts. On 19 January 2015, the National High Court (competent according to article 23.4 of the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch) brought 5 out of the 6 alleged Somalian pirates accused of attacking the Basque fishing boat Izurdia to justice”.
