“Being in action for peace.” Using this motto, Secretary of Defense Franz Josef Jung (CDU) visited the elite military training center of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg-Nienstedten last week during his summer travels.
Ensuring secure passage for shipping on the high seas has become a priority for all governments.
At the Leadership Academy of the German Armed Forces (Füak) participants come from diverse countries and cultures, to be prepared for their military duties. The Secretary had high praise for this world leading concept of a security network which is being taught at the center. More than 27 million Euro is budgeted for Füak for the next few years.
The summer travels of the Defense Secretary, which will include over 30 stations, offer the opportunity to observe training methods, which are used for deployment preparation and officer training. During a press conference, one soon noticed worry lines on the forehead of the Secretary. Within the framework of the anti-terrorist operation “Enduring Freedom” carried out at the Horn of Africa, the German Navy frigate “Emden” secured the sea ways, but due to constitutional laws, their hands are tied in the battle against buccaneers.
Highest Rate of High-Sea Assaults and Kidnapings Worldwide
Since the collapse of Somalia in 1991, the Gulf of Aden has the greatest number of assaults and at gun-point kidnapings on tanker, merchant ships and cruisers. Quite a few marines in the past paid for this defenselessness with their lives. However, any shipping companies avoid reporting such incidents to the authorities, because they fear a delay of their future transactions by long term investigations.
“The German Navy is the only one, caught in the framework of "Enduring Freedom" that is not allowed to intervene against the pirates,” criticized the Association of German Ship Owners not long ago. As recently as last Thursday, three ships in the Somalia area were hijacked by armed bandits. Last year there were 263 reported attacks worldwide that have caused up to 13 billion Euro in damages. In the face of this drastic increase, the EU has decided to agree to a renewed deployment of anti-terrorist operations.
“The German Federal Government recently held a conference with the EU International Society, with the purpose of obtaining a decision about the feasibility of the German Navy policing piracy. The result will be submitted to the Federal Council of Germany,” said Jung, an international legal expert, reviewing the current situation. He added that the German Armed Forces are not allowed to intervene during criminal acts, since crime fighting is, according to basic law, the task of the police. Heretofore, it was determined in Berlin that without changing the basic law, restrictions can not be suspended, and the presence of the military is enough of a deterrent.
Piracy Is Big Money
Piracy is especially lucrative in the waters of Somalia, since the flight of the Chief of State Siad Barre in 1991, there is no state authority, so neither the police nor the coast guard are available to patrol its coastal waters. In April of this year, offshore of Somalia, the luxury yacht “Le Ponaut” was hijacked by pirates.
The ransom demanded for ship and crew often exceeds the value of the contents of the ships vault and shows a new trend in piracy. The warlords have moved their raids to the sea. At this point in time, the boundaries between terror and fighting piracy is difficult to ascertain.
Thilo Gehrke, 41, is a Journalist, photographer and freelance writer in Hamburg and member of the scientific Forum for International Security at the Leadership Academy of the German Armed Forces.