Graduates of Moscow University

By May 9, the Russian Marines had defeated the Somali pirates. And then they were pardoned

In the training center of the Novorossiysk company JSC "Novoship" there is a navigation simulator that allows you to simulate in 3D the actions of the team when trying to seize the ship by pirates. Before going to sea, the crew on land practices a maneuver called "evasive maneuvering". The ship is "snaking", and the waves prevent the pirate boat from approaching the board. But if the bandits have already landed on the ship, then the team, according to the instructions, must hide in a safe room, de-energize the ship and wait for help. “The crews are not recommended to engage in combat, even the captain does not have weapons on our ships,” company spokesman Serafima Shukshina assures Newsweek.

The crew of the Moscow University tanker, hijacked 350 miles offshore east of the Gulf of Aden last Wednesday, worked exactly as instructed, the Novorossiysk shipowner notes with satisfaction. “The fact that the crew was not taken hostage by the pirates allowed the Russian marines from the Marshal Shaposhnikov ship to brilliantly complete the task of freeing the crew in less than a day,” says Shukshina. For Novoship, this is the third attack in a year. In May 2009, in the Gulf of Aden, pirates tried to board their tanker NS Spirit - the pirates were frightened off by shots from the ship's pyrotechnics and a Russian combat helicopter that had flown to the rescue. And on December 18, 2009, the crew of the NS Stream tanker made an evasive maneuver and broke away from the pirates off the coast of Guinea.

The "Moscow University" was attacked by pirates after the escort ship left it. No one expected an attack in this area, the company admits. A whole armada has been sent to fight Somali pirates - 27 warships from 16 countries are patrolling coastal waters teeming with well-armed bandits. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in 3 months of this year, Somali robbers carried out 35 attacks on ships. In January-March last year, there were 102 such attacks. But at the same time, the zone of pirate attacks is constantly growing.

“Pirates are very mobile, they have learned to change the theater of war,” the IMB says. Protect from pirate boats about 3 million square meters. km of the Indian Ocean is “a completely non-standard task for the Navy,” admits military expert Alexander Golts. The same Russian BOD "Marshal Shaposhnikov", he recalls, is designed to search for and destroy nuclear submarines of a potential enemy. “The liberation of Moscow University is a wonderful operation, but in general, a disproportionate amount of fuel, resources and funds are burned to fight piracy,” Golts said.

Pirates meanwhile get richer. Against the backdrop of poor neighborhoods, hunger and poverty in the unrecognized Somali mini-state of Puntland, chic villas are growing, yachts and expensive SUVs are appearing. All this was bought with money from ransoms for the crews of captured sailors, sometimes reaching up to $ 3 million. “The civil war [in Somalia] left millions of people without a livelihood,” Alexander Tkachenko, head of the Center for the Study of North Africa and the Horn of Africa at the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, tells Newsweek. “Hence the attacks on convoys with humanitarian aid, the seizure of hostages and ships in the Gulf of Aden.” According to the expert, pressure on pirates by force of arms is an effective method, but in order to put an end to piracy, it is necessary to normalize life in those areas of the country where piracy comes from.

GOOD GIFT

Pirates attacked the tanker on May 5 at 8:00 Moscow time. The Liberian-flagged ship was carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil to China. There were 23 people on board - all Russians. Novoship told Newsweek that communication with the ship was lost an hour after the attack. But captain Yuri Tulchinsky managed to report that the tanker was attacked by two boats with armed men. The fact that the team took refuge was not known in Novorossiysk, but they hoped that the sailors would work according to the instructions.

“An unarmed team is not recommended to engage in battle with thugs, but no one raises their hands when they see a pirate boat on the horizon,” says Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the Marine Bulletin. Passive resistance is welcomed - by maneuver and speed, sometimes water cannons and barbed wire come into play, but now, according to Voitenko, the crew are increasingly saved from captivity by shelters built on ships. In the event of an attack on the ship, the team closes in such a compartment, taking with them a supply of water, food and communications. Sea robbers become a convenient target for special forces.

In early February, when the pirates boarded the bulk carrier Ariella, the sailors took refuge in the engine room, and soon the Danish special forces freed the ship. On April 5, the Dutch military liberated the German container ship Taipan, whose crew did the same. On April 7, the Turkish bulk carrier Yasin C. was captured by pirates off the coast of Kenya. The crew locked themselves in the engine room and from there drove the ship to the port. Pirates, fearing the appearance of the military, a day after the capture, simply fled.

“We acted decisively, because we knew for certain that the crew [of Moscow University] was closed indoors,” the commander of a group of Russian warships in the Gulf of Aden, Captain 1st Rank Ildar Akhmerov, later admitted. The capture of the vessel lasted only 22 minutes: from 5.13 to 5.35 Moscow time. Three assault groups of 6-8 people boarded the tanker from fast boats. Fire support was provided by a helicopter and guns of the BOD "Marshal Shaposhnikov". "The pirates were actually taken by surprise," Akhmetov said. As a result, 10 robbers were detained, one was killed, the crew was saved. “A very good gift for the Victory Day,” representatives of the military department did not hide their joy. The security forces hurried to get rid of the Somali bandits themselves as soon as possible.

PIRATE AMNESTY

On the same day, the pirates were put on an inflatable boat and launched into the open sea. The Ministry of Defense explained the "pirate amnesty" by the fact that the robbers do not fall under the jurisdiction of any state and international law, and there are no legal rules for prosecuting pirates operating in the Horn of Africa. “I was very surprised, even shocked,” says lawyer Konstantin Baranovsky, who is involved in the case of the seizure of the Arctic Sea cargo ship. On the same day that the Somali pirates were released on a boat, Andrei Lunev, a defendant in the case of the seizure of a dry cargo ship, was found guilty of piracy and sentenced by a Russian court to five years in a strict regime colony.

According to Baranovsky, in contrast to the mysterious story with the Arctic Sea, in the case of Moscow University, everything was very clear: there was a capture, a shootout, and a murder. “The investigation avoided those mistakes and violations that were made during the arrest at the Arctic Sea, but the Somalis were suddenly released,” the lawyer wonders. Nikolai Melnikov, a partner at the International Legal Service, notes that legal issues in the fight against piracy remain open. “Who has the right to defend themselves against pirates is understandable. These are the ones who are being attacked. And who should keep pirates in custody and by what law should they be judged? - asks Melnikov. The same questions arose from President Medvedev, who instructed the Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Ministry to develop a legal framework for combating piracy.

Russia has jurisdiction over pirates who have seized a Russian company ship with a Russian crew, by virtue of Part 3 of Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, recalls Viktor Radnaev, lawyer at Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners. Article 105 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea allows a Russian court to arrest pirates. But pirating processes is a big hassle. According to the law, foreigners must provide translators, organize meetings with diplomats or consuls, and pay for deportation from the country after the deadline. It is easier, as is often the case, to hand over the detained pirates to the authorities of Somalia's neighboring states, such as Kenya, or to the authorities of the Autonomous Region of Puntland. “The main bases of pirates in Puntland. And the local authorities are probably with the pirates in share,” says Voytenko.

There is another problem: a conflict of interest between the investigation and the shipowner. The former are interested in carrying out the maximum possible number of investigative measures on board the ship and with the ship's crew. The second - in the speedy continuation of the voyage and the execution of the concluded contracts.