For a Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol

Incidents of piracy in the waters off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden have more than doubled to 111 attacks in 2008. Somali pirates thus constitute a grave threat to navigation through the Suez Canal and thereby one of the most vital maritime routes in the world. The Somali authorities are unable to solve the problem of piracy unaided and so far, while the international community has reacted, it has failed to take concerted action to combat the problem.

The solution suggested in this report is to establish a regionally-based maritime unit: a Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol, to carry out surveillance in the area to secure free navigation and take on tasks such as fishery inspection and environmental monitoring. A Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol would comprise elements from the coastal states from Egypt in the north to Tanzania in the south. The unit would be established with the support of the states that already have a naval presence in the area.

Click here to download the report (pdf-format).