NORDISK NAVIGATØRKONGRESS - NORDISK FARTYGSBEFÄLS- KONGRESS

Grunnlagt 1910

Tilsluttede organisasjoner: Félag Skipstjórnarmanna, Island - Sveriges Fartygsbefäls- förening Føroya Skipara- og Navigatørfelag - Norsk Sjøoffisersforbund Søfartens Ledere - Finlands Skeppsbefälsförbund

RESOLUTION

Torsvik 8. juni 2007

Demands action against piracy.

On the occasion of the meeting of the Nordic Ship Officers’ Congress in Torshavn, Faeroy Islands on the 7 – 8 June 2007, the delegates representing 14 000 ship officers in the Nordic Countries,

Expressed concern of the increasing number of piracy attacks on merchant vessels including passenger ships and their crews in the national waters of Somalia as well as in adjacent international waters.

Noted that on the 1 June 2007 the Danish ship Danica White was hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean in international waters some 240 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. The pirates, after taking command of the ship, took the ship into Somalian territorial water, without any interference by the Somalian authorities in spite of the violation of international laws.

Noted also that pirates and armed robbery are threats to international trade and also to the recruitment and the future availability of seafarers.

Noted further that piracy and armed robbery are international problems, that concerns everyone, not just the ships´crews, in the future needs of international transportations.

Recognized with concern that it seems to be possible for pirates to hijack a ship on international waters and afterwards take it into territorial waters without any interference from the Coastal State (Somalia). This is absolutely not acceptable.

Request the United Nations to set up a task force in the national as well as international waters in the vicinity of Somalia, similar to the task force in Malacca Strait. Ships and their crews wherever they are in the world must be entitled to have international protection against all forms of piracy and armed robbery.

Urge the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization and its Member Governments, the Intergovernmental Organizations and the Non-Governmental Organizations to immediately exert all possible pressure on Somalia and to take proper actions to stop this threat to international trade and seafarers.