THE POTENTIAL FOR SEYCHELLES AS A SECURITY GATEWAY AND STAGING POST

By: Roy Fonseka – Managing Director, Pilgrims Security Ltd

BEING unique by a thousand miles, as our previous tourism brand used to boast, with no land borders, may perhaps give one a sense of phobia and isolation. However, to most of us, such thoughts are immediately discarded when we reflect on the ongoing turmoil in other parts of the world.
A quick glance at a world map and simply marrying up the CNN headlines in the last twenty-four hours of trouble spots in the region will testify to that.
Recognising this fact alone is not enough. We need to be constantly innovative to best capitalize on our geographical position.
The UAE have over recent years welcomed thousands of Europeans as residents in their country. There is certainly plenty to do there but it is human nature to always venture afield and we are within calling distance. They may opt to fly in, however, having a luxury yacht to be ready to take them to our isolated beaches and islands is what many will expect to do during their stay here and the yachting charter or marina business has recently grown tremendously.
As the maritime trade grows, in terms of both luxury yachts and cargo, they will require various services and security is one area that is presently at the heart of all maritime traffic.
Using Seychelles as a safe gateway is nothing new. Despite his reserved role, even when La Buse operated in these waters, replenishing and preparing himself for his ventures, he was quick to appreciate our geographical position as an ideal gateway spanning the whole region from all points of the compass.
A safe maritime staging post is certainly attractive to any seafarer. But when centred in the middle of four high risk areas, it turns into an indispensable gateway.
The Horn of Africa, i.e. the Eastern and Northern Eastern coast of Somalia are classified by Lloyds as high risk areas for piracy, and terrorist activities. Vessels are advised to keep more than 200 nautical miles from the sea. All very well to state but not easy when your destination is to the Mediterranean through Port Said. Should you opt to go to the long way round the Cape, you will be taking the same risk in the Gulf of Guinea, South of Nigeria. To the North East from Seychelles brings you along the cost of Sri Lanka, another trouble spot as far down through the Malacca Straits which is again a high risk area.
The alarming rate of incidents has dramatically increased since 2004 with two reported incidents east of Somalia to thirty-seven a year later. Pirates use high speed small crafts armed with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Their motivation is not purely for personal financial gains. It is believed that Islamic terrorist groups could use piracy as a mean of funding their activities. In February this year, Danish-owned boat Svitzer Korsukov paid $700,000 (£350,000). Whilst the pirates involved with the Ponant highjack were later apprehended, it is believed that part of the ransom was never retrieved. Not only luxury yachts are vulnerable, most big cargo ships are manned by very few crews which makes it difficult to have an effective watch. Furthermore, sailors are not trained to repel these threats and a couple of shotguns are no match to machine guns. Terrorism thrives in ungoverned territory and their movements blend in with countless fishing dhows and cargo boats that ply these waters. Illicit arms shipments, transit of Al Qaeda personnel and drug trafficking all flourish in the waters.
What protection is presently available? The U.S. Central Command and other NATO countries operating in the area have been lending an eye towards piracy in the region. But obviously they cannot be everywhere and of course they have their core commitments. France and Spain have called on the U.N. to provide security in the region but as usual with such proposals, the question is how much will it cost and how large a fleet one needs to be effective and who will pay for it?
As usual in fighting crime, the aggressor is never forced to act within a time frame and can therefore choose its moment and prey. How long would such a force need to be deployed in the area? The minute the incidents were reduced, the purse string would be tightened and the withdrawal of the force would again encourage renewed activity. It is therefore advisable for each vessel transiting these areas by properly prepared for such eventuality.
Whilst the threat and risks are life threatening and appears to be an overwhelming problem, making available a service to cater for individual needs is certainly viable. A good plan of action with specially trained security personnel armed with the proper tools can easily repel such attempts. It need not cost too much as the duration of threat is for a limited period and individual vessels can include these costs in their insurance policy. I am sure the owners of the Ponant and the Playa de Bakio or more importantly their crew would have been pleased in having had such contingencies.
Can Seychelles be the staging post for maritime traffic prior to venturing in these troubled waters? Providing a security escort service could be a good way of luring regional shipping into our ports traveling from all directions with obvious benefits to us. It may be a slight dog leg for traffic moving from the Horn of Africa via the cape but ideal for traffic moving between the Middle East to the Far East.
Already, there have been numerous enquiries and demand from visiting yachts which suggests that many may opt to go elsewhere unless they can get the right protection. Setting up a forum including all stakeholders; yacht charter, marina businesses, coastguard, private security firms, police would be timely in order to develop this concept and add another service to our tourism industry.
The spin off of increased volume of shipping in our ports has to be appreciated by all. It will require the understanding of the government to help facilitate such a venture.
And if we are slow to act, someone else in the region will capitalize on the current situation.