Private vigilantes on ships against pirate attacks. This is what the resolution approved unanimously by the Senate Defense Committee provides. According to the Piracy Observatory set up by the International Martime Bureau, 445 attacks were registered last year, with the capture of 53 vessels and the seizure of 1.181 maritime operators. This year the attacks have already reached 243. In economic terms, the increased risk associated with pirate attacks and the widespread insecurity for maritime traffic has resulted in an overall loss for the world community ranging between 13 and 16 billion dollars . A phenomenon of worrying human and economic dimensions, which also sees our fleet heavily exposed.
The priateria mainly infests the seas of south-eastern Asia and southern America, but also the stretch of sea of the Gulf of Aden and the one in front of the coasts of Somalia. The resolution approved today commits the Government to continue and strengthen its action alongside international partners, to take action in the UN and NATO and to identify "urgent legislative solutions". The provision should provide for the employment on board ships flying the Italian flag of armed teams of the Navy, with the burden of the shipowners who request it. Furthermore, the shipowner should in any case be authorized, if he wants or prefers it, to make use of private security "aimed at deterrence and self-defense in the face of the pirate threat".
