Egypt Cracks Down - On Private Security for Shipping

This was sent out by the Suez Canal Authorities last week. Not a good development for US policy towards piracy.

Following the Sea transport sector meeting with the Supreme council if the armed forces (acting in the position of the Egyptian president) to touch base in setting responsibilities towards the different parts Of the country.

The meeting targets mainly to lead the Foreign Commercial ships to abide the Egyptian rules inside the Egyptian territories concerning the security groups on board of ships.

The meeting concluded the (NON-ACCEPTANCE) of the presence of arms/Security groups on board of the ships which is contradicting the The International Maritime law in the following points:

1) Gulf of Suez is considered totally Egyptain water.

2) Accepting and following the Egyptian position related to the Security teams on board of ships in compliance to the laws and regulations adopted by the International maritime organization.

3) A declaration has to be passed from the master to the pilot on his boarding at inner or outer anchorage and port authority confirming that the vessel does not include any arms or ammunition for the purpose of security.

4) In case the vessel found carrying any of the above PROHIBITIONS inside the Egyptian waters and the Suez Canal, the vessel And the master and the people/team holding such items (arms - Equipment- ammunition) will be arrested and charged according To the law number 394 for the year 1954 and its amendments which is concerned with holding arms and ammunitions.

In other words, vessels that cross the Suez canal cannot have armed security teams or they will be arrested. The policy of the United States is that we want our commercial shipping to protect itself - preferably with armed security teams because no ship with an armed security team has ever been hijacked by pirates.

This is an example where the policies of the United States are not congruent with the policies of other nations. When people want to know what the US can do to fight piracy, the answer is simple - the US needs to be working the diplomatic route with nations like Egypt to insure that US flagged vessels can protect themselves.

With this circular from the Suez Canal authority, the Obama administrations policy for US shipping dealing with piracy is undermined to the point of being ineffective. Egypt almost certainly has legitimate reasons for a policy that makes carrying arms and ammunition through the Suez canal illegal, but the same policy completely undermines those who have taken the responsibility of protecting their ships upon themselves.

It will be interesting to follow how the State Department deals with this conundrum.