International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 1

Number 2

June 2007

215

The Effectivness of Multinational Maritime

Task Groups in Shipping Protection

D. Duda & T. Szubrycht

Polish Naval Academy, Gdynia, Poland

ABSTRACT: Now it is obvious that maritime transport is the core element of word economy but in region of

the world security of maritime sea transport is threaten. The world countries take different activities to

decrease such threats and make shipping more safety. One of such solution is multinational maritime

operation provides by the Navy. The paper presents the analyze of such operation, which were taken in last

two decades, especially in Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Strait of Malacca and in around the coast of

Somalia. Paper present also lessons learned experience of such operation.

Nowadays it is obvious that maritime transport is the

core element of word economy. For example

European Seaport Organization (ESPO) claims that

without seaports European Union would not exists

as an economic world power also without seaports

there would be no European internal markets

. But

such diagnosis is true for the whole world. It is

obvious that safe and secure maritime transport is

the most important element for world economic

prosperity. But there are many regions all over the

world where the security of maritime sea transport is

threatened. The last years show that besides

“classical” aspects of maritime safety (technical,

navigational, environmental etc.) more and more

important are asymmetric threats. The armed

robbery, piracy and terrorism are serious challenge

for world shipping.

The world countries take different activities to

decrease such threats and make shipping more

safety. One of such solution is multinational

maritime operation provides by the Navy.

Seaport policy, A practical guide for EU Policy makers, ESPO,

2004.

When we try to compare the regions where the

maritime shipping is the most unsafe (for example

data published by IMO or ICC International

Maritime Bureau) and the areas of operations of

multinational naval task groups it is easy to notice

that there are not the same.

Fig. 1. The following nine locations shared more than two

thirds of the total reported incidents in 2006

Source: ICC International Maritime Bureau, Piracy and armed

robbery against ships, Annual report 2006

There was not piracy or armed robbery incidents

in the Mediterranean Sea in 2006, but it is the area of

216

NATO operation Active Endeavour. On the other

hand there was not any multinational naval operation

in the area around Bangladesh or Indonesia. There

were almost 36.2% of world armed robbery and

piracy incidents in 2006. It is interesting why such

differences are?

The answer is not easy, because there are many

different reason of such situation for example

economy interest of the world, geography of main

shipping lines, political situation and political

competition among coastal states etc. Nowadays

when we analyze the multinational naval operation

first of all we must take under consideration operation

presented below.

Combined Task Force - 150 (CTF-150) was

established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop

suspect shipping in the area of Gulf of Oman, Gulf

of Aden, Arabian and Red Sea and finally Indian

Ocean (the area of operation is presented below).

The task force usually comprises 14 or 15 ships,

helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft from such

countries as Canada, France, Germany, Pakistan,

United Kingdom and the United States. Other

nations who have also participated in this task force

include Australia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand,

Portugal, Spain and Turkey. The command of the

task force rotates between the different participating

navies, and usually last between four to six months.

It is easy to notice that for each participant countries

the area of operation is vital for his economical

prosperity.

There are two main reasons why the CTF – 150

includes such area of responsibilities. First of all it is

easy notice that this area is crossing by the main

world oil and gas shipping lines. In There are three

choke points if world oil and gas transport (Sues

Channel, Bad-el-Mandab and Hormuz) without

secure and safe shipping the global economy can has

serious problems.

Very often in the waters around the Somalia

heavily armed pirates with guns and grenades have

attacked ships and fired upon them. The eastern and

northeastern coast are high – risk areas for piracy

attacks and hijackings for ransom. Usually the

ransom for hijacked crew is between 100 to 500

thousand US. For example in 2006 almost 47% of

world hijackings had happened around Somalia.

Many attacks occurred event 390 nautical miles form

the coast. The pirates use the “mother – ships” to

launch attacks at these distances.

Fig. 2. The area of responsibilities of CTF – 150

Sources: UK Maritime Trade Operations – Dubai, Briefing

8 June 2006, British High Commission

Besides CTF – 150 also others multinational task

group operate in the Arabian Gulf. There are CTF –

152 and CTF – 158. Their main area of operation is

as follow:

− CTF-158 – Northern Gulf responsible for

protection of the Iraqi Oil and port infrastructure.

− CTF-152 – Central and Southern Arabian Gulf

conducting Maritime Interdiction Operations

(MIOPS).

− CTF-150 – Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Horn of

Africa and Red Sea – conducting MIOPS as for

CTF152 but also concentrating forces against

piracy off Somalia and the Horn of Africa.

Table 1. The example of successful maritime actions of CTF –

150 from June 2005 to March 2006

Date Accident

8 June

2005

Successfully conducted the boarding of the

vessel Safari in international waters, leading to

the seizure of 2.3 tons of hashish.

21 January

2006

Ten suspected pirates were captured after the

US ship stopped a dhow about 54 miles of the

coast of Somalia. Of the 26 men aboard the

dhow, 10 were Somalis and 16 were from

India.

22 January

2006

captured a suspected pirate vessel in the Indian

Ocean as part of an ongoing effort to help

maintain law and order in the region

18 March

2006

Two US Navy warships exchanged gunfire

with people suspected of being pirates off the

coast of Somalia, killing one of them and

wounding five. The battle started about 25

miles off the Somali coast when the US

warships spotted a 30-foot fishing boat towing

skiffs and prepared to board the vessels.

Sources: UK Maritime Trade Operations – Dubai, Briefing

8 June 2006, British High Commission

217

The most famous naval operation is Active

Endeavour, which is conducted by NATO. It was

one of the first military actions taken by NATO in

response to an invocation of Article 5. On 6

December 2001, “NATO continues to demonstrate

the strength of its resolve and the solidarity of its

member nations by conducting this operation.”

On 29 April 2003, Task Force Endeavour began

boarding operations following a NAC (North

Atlantic Council) decision to enhance the

effectiveness of the current naval operations against

suspected terrorist activities in the Mediterranean.

The boarding operations are conducted in

accordance with the rules of international law and

are of a compliant nature. Since the start of the

operation more than 80 000 merchant vessels have

been monitored (as of end 2006) by the forces of

Active Endeavour. The surveillance operation

utilizes ship, aircraft and submarine assets to build a

picture of maritime activity in the Area of

Operations.

On 16 March 2004 NATO announced that the

Area of Operations of Active Endeavour was

extended to the whole Mediterranean Sea and that

EAPC/PfP (Euro-Atlantic Partnership

Council/Partnership for Peace) Partners,

Mediterranean Dialogue countries and other selected

nations will be asked to support it, including through

their active participation.

Since its inception, the ships of Active Endeavour

have monitored over 79,000 ships (as of April 12,

2006) and conducted voluntary boarding of over

100. They have also escorted over 480 ships through

the Strait of Gibraltar until escorting was suspended

in 2004.

NATO further strengthened its relationships

with countries across the region, particularly with

members of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue:

Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco

and Tunisia. Together, they work to share

information about regional maritime traffic, giving

all members a clearer picture of vessels operating in

their territorial waters.

Georgia and Albania, members of NATO’s

Partnership for Peace, also have entered into talks

with the alliance to find ways to support the mission,

while Russia and Ukraine both finalized agreements

with NATO to support Active Endeavor, with

members of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet joining the

mission in February 2006.

Table 2. The example of successful maritime actions of Active

Endeavor naval forces

4 December

2001

The rescue operation of 84 civilians from a

stricken oil rig. In high winds and heavy

seas, the Italian helicopter of the ALISEO

removed all 84 workers from the oil rig in

14 flights

2 January

2002

Spanish frigate and Netherlands oilier, the

UK naval vessel and the Greek Coast Guard

provided life-saving support to the

passengers of a sinking ship in the Eastern

Mediterranean off Crete

23 March

2006

NATO forces alerted the Hellenic Coast

Guard of a vessel named "M/V Crystal".

The coast guard units intercepted the ship

and arrested the captain and crew who were

attempting to smuggle 126 illegal

immigrants

Sources: http://www.nato.org/Operation Active Endeavour

In 2006 according the “Piracy and armed robbery

against ships” published by ICC International

Maritime Bureau there was not unlawful incidents

against maritime shipping the Mediterranean. But

there is high risk of terrorist threats in this sea.

Mediterranean is the vital maritime area not only for

European but also world economy, so it is the main

reason of NATO activities.

The last one of multination naval forces establish

for securing the shipping lines of transport is

BLACKSEAFOR. For the purpose of enhancing

peace and stability in the Black Sea area, by

increasing regional co-operation, and improving

good relationship, the idea of establishing a

multinational naval on-call peace task force “The

Black Sea Naval Co-Operation Task Group-

BLACKSEAFOR” has been initiated by Turkey.

Six Black sea countries, that are Turkey, Russia,

Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia, will sign

the Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group

(BLACKSEAFOR).

Their establishment agreement is the most

important historical document, which directs the

activities of the BLACKSEAFOR. The agreement

consists of general principles, tasks, force structure,

political and military aspects, command & control,

and administration of the force.

The BLACKSEAFOR is composed of minimum

4-6 ships which are allocated from the parties,

including the one command and control ship. Main

types of the warships to be assigned to the force are:

− Frigate/Destroyer (FF/DD);

− Corvette/Patrol Boat (FS/PB);

− Mine Counter Measures Ship (MCM);

− Amphibious Ship (LS);

− Auxiliary Ship and Vessel (AX).

The BLACKSEAFOR may also be available for

possible employment in the United Nations (UN) or

218

the Organization For Security And Cooperation In

Europe (OSCE)-mandated operations. It could also

participate in other types of international activities

with the aims and tasks of the BLACKSEAFOR.

It is worth to mention about Malacca Straits. It is

one of the most important areas for world maritime

transportation, and in this area takes place many

unlawful incidents against maritime shipping. But

the multinational navy activities are rather limited.

The people who are not familiar with political

situation in this region may ask “what is the reason

of such situation?” First of all there is a political,

military and economical rivalry between the states of

“Malacca straits region”. The coastal countries are

not willing to accept the support of other countries

for example United States, China or Japan. Also

geographical conditions (many small islands) make

the area excellent for piracy activities. The states in

the region claim that they are able to protect

shipping in his territorial waters on their own.

On the others hand the situation around Africa. In

the west coast of Africa takes place most of the

piracy accidents (36 accidents), but there is not an

area of operation of multinational naval task forces.

The explanation is rather easy. This area is not the

core area for world shipping. Especially for the most

developed countries of the world.

It is important to notice that multinational naval

operation usually take place first of all in maritime

area which are important not for world communities

but for world powers. On the other hands the coastal

countries of such region must ask for support or gave

the permission for such operation. And finally

political, economic and military factors have huge

impact on success.

REFERENCES

http://www.noonsite.com/Members/doina/

http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracy_maps_2006.

UK Maritime Trade Operations – Dubai, Briefing 8 June 2006

British High Commission.

ICC International Maritime Bureau, Piracy and armed robbery

against ships, Annual report 2006.

Worldwide Threat to Shipping Monthly Report, Defence

Intelligence Staff. June 2006.

Nakahata Y., For the Security of Sea Lanes: Multinational

Maritime Operations by China, Japan and the United States,

Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, August 2006.

http://www.nato.org/OperationActiveEndeavour

http://www.Blackseafor