Call for a global agency to thwart sea piracy

KOCHI: In the wake of the increasing incidents of piracy, Director-General of Shipping S B Agnihotri has asked the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to consider a proposal for an international security protocol for protecting ships at all sea coasts.Agnihotri said that at present all countries are taking independent steps to protect their ships but the need of the hour is an international agency to preventsea piracy.“Ships that have convoys and security guards are less prone to attacks by the Somali pirates. Our demand is a UN-run anti-piracy law under the IMO. It would be preferred if the Indian Navy would get into the business of deploying security guards to protect the ships.“We are interested in giving training for private nstitutions, but we are not interested in privatising our institutions,” he said.The Director-General said the Coastal Shipping Policy, has been given for Cabinet approval and might receive the Cabinet nod in the next few months. Passing Out Ceremony The passing-out ceremony of the fourth batch of BTech Marine Engineering students from the Kunjali Marakkar Institution at Cochin University of Science and Technology was held on Friday.S B Agnihotri, who delivered the keynote address said, that marine engineers should be aware of the need for marine logistics officials in the country. Within the next 5-10 years, there is going to be a dearth of at least 30,000 to 35,000 Marine Logistic officials, he said.The Kunjali Marakkar institution is the only institution in the country which is conducting a BTech in Marine Engineering directly under a state-owned university.Cusat Vice Chancellor Ramachandran Thekkadath and Principal Officer of Mercantile Marine Department Captain L K Panda and Pro Vice Chancellor Godfrey Louis were present.