Fighting piracy
December 9, 2009
Germany's role in the EU-led Atalanta mission off the coast of Somalia should have come to an end this month. But Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has rubber stamped proposals to keep it going for another year.
If next week the parliament does what it is widely expected to do and endorses the proposals, as many as 1,400 German soldiers could be deployed in the region to help in the fight against lawlessness at sea.
There are currently some 240 troops on the "Bremen" frigate stationed on the Horn.
Germany's association of captains and naval officers would welcome the extension of the mandate. President of the association Christoph Want told the Thueringer Allgemeine newspaper on Wednesday that the EU mission has been a success.
"The security is higher and corridor used by cargo vessels is much safer than it used to be," he said.
The need for government control
He said an operation such as Atalanta was preferable to the deployment of armed civilian ships and private security guards.
"That could lead to unpredictable consequences and to an escalation in violence," he told the paper.
On Wednesday, representatives of the EU mission on the Horn of Africa said Somali pirates had captured a fishing trawler with 29 crew members on board. The Pakistan-flagged "MV Shahbaig" was seized on Tuesday.
Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia are currently holding some 12 ships with as many of a hundred crew members.
The growing tide of piracy in the waters off Somalia is widely blamed on internal instability. The country has not had a government or an army since 1991.
tkw/AP/dpa/reuters
Editor: Trinity Hartman