Introduction
Papua New Guinea is a developing country which puts national security issues like sea or maritime piracy a huge concern for its citizens living along the coasts. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers areas of interest such as Bismark Sea, Solomon Sea, Gulf of Papua, Torres Straight and the maritime boarder with Solomon Islands were acts of piracy happen a lot. (Global Security.org 2020) Piracy is the term given to a crime that is committed at sea. Crime is defined as an illegal act where the offender can be punished by the government for violation of instituted laws (Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2020) On the other hand, according to Article 101 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of Seas (UNCLOS) sea piracy is defined as an illegal act committed at sea. The most common crimes committed at sea in PNG today include, armed robbery, killings, betel-nut smuggling, etc. There are many reported cases regarding vulnerable citizens along the coasts of Milne, Bay, Madang and Morobe Provinces vastly being affected by ongoing robberies at sea. Pirates intersect boats carrying passengers and cargo and rob them on gun point at sea. Cargos include money, betel-nut bags, accessories and foods just to name a few. However, robberies at sea using dinghies is one of the many illegal acts committed at sea. Others include, transnational crimes like, drug smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering and vandalism. All incidents of sea piracy will be discussed using Milne Bay, Morobe and Madang Province as case studies in the next chapter.
Case Studies: Milne Bay, Madang and Morobe Province
The people living in small villages along the coasts of these three provinces are heavily falling victims to sea pirates according to many news reports. According to the National (15th March, 2016), Chief Inspector Gerari Lincoln mentioned about the rise of sea piracy along the border of Morobe and Northern Province. Additionally, Gerari stated that the Northerners taking betel-nut to Lae were the victims of piracy from criminals who travel from Lae to rob them at sea. In a Post Courier report MP Charles Abel addressed a robbery incident that took place on the Misima Island in Milne Bay Province where a same group of sea pirates where involved. (Isaac Nicholas, January 10th 2019) This means that sea piracy in the province is consistently caused by a same gang frequently. A Fijian missionary who was a victim reported that a gang of 10 masked man armed with guns and knives held up a small boat containing 13 passengers and stripped out the boat’s engine. The passengers were not killed because they had a child with them and luckily contacted for help with a phone that was kept hidden. They travelled for 2 to 3 hours before rescue came and the locals told the Fijian that they were lucky to be alive because incidents occur regularly. (RNZ News, 4th April 2017) According to another National article report Madang PPC Supt Ben Neneo stated that, criminals used boats to escape after committing robberies and also elaborated on a case where youths between Karkar and Rambi where held up at sea by sea pirates. Furthermore, according to EMTV online (2017) criminals used escape using the sea after robing business houses in Mandag Town and being a maritime province had experiences of sea piracy frequently. In a Post Courier article Peter Guiness, the Northern command police chief assistance commissioner reported that during a sea piracy incident there was a hijacking of a boat between Karkar and Kubugum where three people went missing at sea and four of the responsible pirates were arrested by the police. (DWU journalism student, December 19th 2019) Additionally in another Post Courier article Guiness elaborated that the attack left one person dead and four missing which were feared to be dead and other four swam to safety when they were rescued. Jerry Sefe & Georgina Korei, December 18th 2019) Thus, this are only some of the cases of sea piracy attacks from a vast number which is believed to be unreported to the police. There are various factors that contribute to the incidents of sea piracy in PNG today which will be elaborated in the next chapter.
Factors contributing to Sea Piracy in PNG
- Outside Influence
On the other hand, PNG has no history of such illegal acts committed at sea because in the past our people used the seas as trade routes. Sea Piracy is an issue that arose in 2008 according to Cameroon Mamadeni (2020) who is from Milne Bay Province. The main cause of sea piracy is because of the Western influence and globalization. The integration of the influence from the outside world with our developing economy contribute to sea piracy attacks in the coastal areas. In the past, our ancestors had no access to mobile phones, TV, weapons or basically the influence of media. Pirates are likely to develop their mindsets by watching a movie about sea piracy, for example Pirates of the Caribbean. It is more like they can attract their skills and techniques of attack from what they watch and the availability of good network coverage nationwide enables pirates to communicate and plan an attack from anywhere. For example, in light to one of the cases in Milne Bay province the Fijian who was part of an incident reported that the pirates had a good network. This means that a pirate from Alotau contacted his gang about the boat that was travelling and it was easier for the pirates to intercept the boat with 13 passengers quickly at sea.
2. Developing Economy
In PNG there are many people who are unemployed which leads them to take part in criminal activities where sea piracy happens to be one of them. According to the National, the high unemployment rate in PNG causes many crimes. Obviously, when people have no job, they are looking for means and ways to survive in a way to satisfy their needs and wants. In relation with the case studies, the pirates are usually aimed at stealing the cargos that passengers carry. Similarly, the people travelling along the Highlands and Okuk highways face many road blocks where criminals steal cargos such as money and other valuables on gun point. According to the National, Pirates from Lae travelled to Northern province because of the increased betel-nut trade. Thus, the pirates are committing sea piracy as an opportunity to make money. During an interview with a pirate from Madang he when asked about why they commit sea piracy, he generously answered, “sea piracy is our only way to make money since there are no police to intercept and arrest us. Sometimes we kill the people who try to retaliate because we make a living out of committing the act of piracy.”
3. Poor Maritime Security
The sea has no house, no people living in it and no crops growing on it but it is just a huge area of open water. The fact that there is less monitoring by police patrol boats and other authorities makes it simpler for pirates to attack. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of PNG is 5,153km of coastline and 2.7 million square kilometers which puts the area vulnerable to international arms and drug smuggling and piracy. In order to minimize such activities regular maritime surveillance to enforce regulations and intercept and arrest offenders are needed but are not effectively carried out by responsible governing bodies. (Global Security.org 2020) According to Charles Yapuni (August 24, 2016) the water police unit lacked resources in combating sea piracy. There was no funding to the police department from the NEC due to several constraints. As a result, act of piracy was reported to be mostly occurring in the seas of Alotau, Morobe, Mandag and other maritime provinces. (Charles Yapumi, August 24, 2016) In an interview with one of the police officers at Jomba police station, when asked about his views on sea piracy in Madang and the what the police are doing to combat this issue in the province? He replied, “We have the man power but we need logistics, our heads are not funding sea piracy operations and we do not have full conditioned police boats to chase offenders. The two police boats need maintenance and have broken down which makes it difficult for the police to combat sea piracy.” Thus, from many other news articles, the concern of boats needed by the police to carry out operations and patrols were stated. According to police officer interviewed he mentioned raise an important question, “Why should we risk our lives to chase offenders when we do not have proper logistics?” In regards, this can be the mindset that other police officers of other maritime provinces have which now puts acts of piracy to increase regularly in the coastal provinces of PNG. Pirates use the weak spots of the police as an advantage to commit sea piracy in Miline Bay, Madang, Morobe and other coastal provinces of PNG. There are laws, strategies and policies in place to combat sea piracy but proves to be ineffective. These will be discussed in the next chapter.
Governing Bodies and Maritime Laws/Policies
There are various government bodies that are responsible for combating sea piracy in PNG. They are the maritime institutions established under the umbrella of the Department Transport and Infrastructure. The National Maritime Service Authority (NMSA) is the government department responsible for the safety in the seas. It is the statutory body established by an Act of Parliament to carry out maritime safety needs of the general public, especially those in marginalized coastal areas, the maritime industry and their customers. (NMSA, 2020) In each of the maritime provinces in PNG a branch is established. All maritime laws established by NMSA is in line with the laws established by the IMO. The table below illustrates a link between international laws and PNG laws that can deal with sea piracy.
| IMO Conventions | Related PNG laws |
| International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended | Merchant Shipping Act 1975 Merchant Shipping (Maritime Security) Regulation 2013 Merchant Shipping (Registration) Regulation 2015 Merchant Shipping (Safety) Regulation 2006 |
| International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) as amended, including the 1995 and 2010 Manila Amendments | Merchant Shipping (STCW) Regulations 2002 |
Additionally, the other national laws include the PNG maritime and merchant shipping legislations with their subsidiary regulations enacted under the umbrella of the IMO that are also applicable to crimes committed at sea. Below are some of these acts and regulations. The NMSA is the authoritative body to govern these legislations (NMSA, 2020)
- National Maritime Safety Authority Act
- Small Craft Act 2011
- Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy) Act 2003
- Merchant Shipping (Navigational Aids Levy) Regulation 2014
- National Maritime Safety (Regulatory Functions Levy) Regulation 2014
The PNG customs department is another governing body responsible to facilitate activities regarding sea piracy. It was established under Customs Act 1951. From the departments three core functions border and community protection is the first role of PNG customs in a way they prevent transnational crimes and ensure that supply chain security is effective. Since act of piracy is an offence conducted in the maritime industry the other governing bodies include the PNG Ports Corporation and Maritime Security Unit. These two institutions even though their roles and responsibilities are not related to dealing with sea piracy they are responsible bodies because they act in a way to ensure the safety of people in the maritime industry.
Thus, apart from the maritime institutions the PNG Defense and Police are the security departments of the country. In such manner, they are also responsible governing bodies that work collectively with the maritime institutions. These will be elaborated in the next chapter.
Strategies in place to combat sea piracy
The main strategy set in place to combat sea piracy is the Water Police. From the Police Department the water police unit is a special division established to work with the maritime governing bodies to mainly provide security. According to the police officer at Jomba Police station, water police is another division established to play the role as security guards of the seas and they work with the NMSA branch in Madang. The offenders if caught are charged using the maritime laws put in place by the NMSA. Madang and Morobe provinces have water police units established except Milne Bay. Deputy PM Steven Davis proposed to an establishment of naval base and water police in Milne Bay Province to combat transnational crime and sea piracy. The institutions were taken from the PNG Defense White Paper. Steven Davis who is also the Justice Minister and Attorney General was working with the Alotau MP Charles Abel, Milne Bay Administration and with support from Australia was looking forward to implementing the institutions. (Faiparik, 2020) In 2019 Acting Police Commissioner David Manning signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the NMSA. The deal contains the following tasks, roles and responsibilities. (Post Courier, October 9th 2019)
- “Search and rescues response and coordination in an effort to safe lives.”
- “Enhance both departments abilities and the implementation of crime prevention and water safety strategies.”
- “Committed to give PNG the best operations and productive police force.”
- The service level agreements (SLA) will enable both agencies to work closely and share resources such as vessels, buildings and boat facilities.
- “The SLA will create trained water police and assets.”
- “Creation of interoperable teams to help both organizations in their specific duties and provision of an improved collective search and rescue feedback, and enforcing maritime legislations.”
- “Provide security in dealing with maritime crimes, acts of piracy, and deliver community policing activities.”
- “Combat offshore crime and enhance border security and maintain port facilities.”
Since the first signing of the SLA deal, trained water police units were to be deployed to Milne Bay Province. All the points stated above are assumed to be applied in the province as less literature and reports are available to prove implementation of the tasks of the SLA. According to the same Post Courier report (October 19th, 2019), Manning only stated about the plans and purposes of what the Police and NMSA were planning to do after the agreement. Furthermore, Manning also stated about extending similar strategies to the other maritime provinces in PNG as well as working with other maritime institutions such as the PNG Customs, National Fisheries Authority and the PNG Ports Corporation.
The other strategy is the anti-piracy coalition PNG sought for with Australia and the United States (US). According to Sky News (11th January 2019) PNG requested Australia and the US to support its anti-piracy efforts through the set up of a joint coast guard or maritime police force. The response from was taken into consideration by the Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (Sky News, 11th January 2019). In light with the request, PNG has received four boats and a vessel from Australia for maritime security purposes. These boats were received by three different government departments; The PNG Defense Force, NMSA and PNG Customs. The Guardian class patrol boat was the first of four received by the PNG Defense. The boat will be used to do regular maritime surveillance to ensure maritime safety and preventing maritime crimes. (NAVALTODAY.COM, 2020) The NMSA was delivered a rescue vessel to conduct is duly roles and responsibilities in the maritime industry. (Maritime, 2017) Moreover, Australia delivered three patrol boats to the PNG Customs to enhance maritime security. Additionally, the main purpose for the delivery these boats was to provide security during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting in 2018. Thus, PNG have these boats currently to strengthen the maritime security and enforce the maritime legislations.
Conclusion/ Discussions
All in all, sea piracy is a security issue threatening human security in the maritime provinces in PNG. Most piracy cases reported are along the coasts of Milne Bay, Morobe and Madang Provinces. There are three main factors that leads to act of piracy in PNG: Western influence, PNGs developing economy and poor security management. Event though the Western influence and the country’s developing state can be seen as devasting, act of piracy can be controlled by the responsible authorities. Yet, the issue is arising mainly because of poor security operations and management. The main responsible authority is the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) who works closely with other governing bodies such as the Police, Defense force, PNG Customs, PNG Ports and other maritime institutions established under the Department of Infrastructure and Transport. There are maritime legislations established by the NMSA to enforce and regulate maritime safety but are ineffective. The water police division was specifically created to provide security at sea under a MOU with the NMSA but the operations are always hampered by a lack of logistics such as funds, fuels and boats. The government sought an anti-piracy coalition with Australia and the US which was effective in PNG receiving five boats and a vessel during the APEC Summit in 2018. These boats are not utilized by the governing bodies to strengthen maritime security and protect the lives of people at sea. The PNG DF received the Guardian class patrol boat which one of the four Australia planned to give. Thus, the problem is that, the boat is not patrolling the maritime zones regularly and it is just sitting somewhere decorating a wharf. Moreover, the NMSA received a high-powered vessel that can carry 6 passenger and two pilots which is enough for some water police officers and NMSA officers to use and safeguard the lives of people at sea by monitoring the hot spots of maritime crimes. Further, the PNG Customs received three boats which is more than enough to strengthen our maritime boarders but the boats are still sitting somewhere doing nothing. On top of all these, lack of logistics is the common problem deterring maritime operations. According to the police officer at Jomba, “We have the water police unit established in Madang and the man power to carry out the operations at sea we need logistics. The boats that the government received from Australia are just sitting there. The two police dinghies have broken down and need maintenance. We need funding and nothing has been done by the respective heads to look into the matter.” It is obvious that, the Police Commissioner, provincial MPs, district MPs and other stake holders are not working together or often just give sweet talks without implementing them. Consequently, in Madang many innocent lives are lost at sea, poor hardworking villagers being robbed and is still ongoing while the responsible stake holders are not doing anything at all. The similar scenario is happening is happening in Morobe Provice. For the case of Miline Bay Province there is no water police unit and in 2019 when Acting Police Commissioner David Manning Signed the MOU with the NMSA they proposed to set up one. Hence, the province has been going through so many piracy incidents and a few transnational crime cases. In contract with Madang and Morobe, acts of piracy in the province is quite advanced where pirates’ attacks are organized in a network. There was a case where some Asians in search for their drug boat went to a village and threatened the villagers. Perhaps, the Asians are working with the local pirates in smuggling drugs, weapons or people. The sea piracy cases in Milne Bay are more to linked with the outside community which is imposing a huge threat to human security along the coasts of the province.
Therefore, the following recommendations are directed to some stake holders in a way to mitigate sea piracy and protect the lives of people along the coasts of PNG.
Recommendations
The first recommendation is directed to the Police Minister and Minster for Infrastructure and Transport.
- Do evaluations and reviews after every 3 months to see if maritime legislations are enforced by governing bodies
- Work with the MPs of the maritime provinces to establish a mutual understanding of maritime crimes and discuss strategies to address them.
The second recommendation is directed to the NMSA.
- Sign another MOU with the Defense force
- Regular maritime patrol using the Guardian class patrol boat we have right now, in the PNG seas.
- Impose death penalty to pirates.
- Each NMSA branch should work with the water police collectively to do regular monitoring of small crafts in the hot spots.
- Work with PNG Customs under a MOU agreement and other maritime institutions as well.
- Making sure logistics are provided by the departmental heads and other stake holders.
The last recommendation is directed to the people in the coastal provinces.
- Victims should file a complaint against the NMSA and other governing bodies for not performing their assigned roles.
- Community members should work together to deliver pirates to the water police.
- The people in the coasts should report all incidents of piracy to police to make this issue known as a serious one.
References
Faiparik, .C (January 27th , 2020) Need for naval base in Miline Bay, The National, Retrieved from: https://www.thenational.com.pg/need-for-naval-base-in-milne-bay/
Global Security.org (2020) Papua New Guinea-Maritime operations element. Retrieved from:
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/oceania/png-navy.htm
Korei, G. (December 19th, 2019) Top stories. Pirates arrested in Madang. Post-Courier. Retrieved from:
Maritime, B. (2017) Papua New Guinea safety authority receives new rescue boat. Retrieved from:
https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/small-craft-world/search-and-rescue/papua- new- guinea-safety-authority-receives-new-rescue-boat/
NAVALTODAY.COM (2020) Australian shipbuilder Austal has delivered the first Guardian-class patrol boat to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. Retrieved from:
https://www.navaltoday.com/2018/11/30/papua-new-guinea-receives-first-guardian-class- patrol-boat/
PNG Customs Service (2020) Who we are. Retrieved from:
Post Courier (October 9th, 2019) Police, NMSA sign marine security deal. Post Courier. Retrieved from:
RNZ (4th April, 2017) Network suspected to be behind pirate attacks. RNZ News. Retrieved from:
rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/328096/network-suspected-to-be-behind-png-pirate- attacks
Sefe, J & Korei, G. (December 18th, 2019) Top stories. Sea piracy operations hampered by lack of resources, funds: Police. Post Courier. Retrieved from:
Sky News (11th January, 2019) PNG calls for joint coast guard with Australia and US. Retrieved from:
https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_5988192992001
The Maritime Executive (2020) Australia donates port boats to PNG customs service. Retrieved from:
https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/australia-donates-port- boats-to-png-customs-
service
The National ( March 15th , 2016) Sea piracy on the increase. The National. Article views. Retrieved from:
Yapumi, C. (August 24, 2016) No police boats to fight piracy in PNG waters, Loop News, Retrieved from:
http://www.looppng.com/content/no-police-boats-fight-piracy-png-waters-atiyafa
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