DUBAI // The rescue by special forces of a UAE-owned bulk carrier and the prosecution of pirates in UAE courts herald tougher federal moves against piracy, security and legal experts said yesterday.
The incident at the weekend - the first time UAE forces have taken part in a counter-piracy operation - put training from the past year to use and reflected a decision to make stopping piracy a priority, said Theodore Karasik, the research director at the Institute for Near Eastern and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai.
"This is a significant milestone," he said. "Ships that are registered in the UAE or contain shipments that are coming from or going to the UAE have been a frequent target and I think the Government has had enough."
The MV Arrilah-I, a 37,000-tonne bulk carrier owned by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), was the first government-owned vessel to be hijacked. Four of 26 ships currently held hostage by Somali pirates belong to UAE-based firms and a fifth was released last month. Six more vessels travelling to or from Emirati ports have been hijacked in the past six months.
"Intervention is going to depend on who owns what and what it's carrying and how important it is," Mr Karasik said. "The point is the UAE is coming up very strongly in terms of counter-piracy operations."
The incident began early on Friday when pirates with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the vessel, which was en route from Australia to Jebel Ali. Six of them approached on two skiffs launched from a larger ship.
The MV Arrilah-I's crew and its private unarmed guards alerted UK Maritime Trade Operations, a Dubai-based group that liaises between commercial vessels and naval forces that conduct counter-piracy operations in the area. Then they locked themselves in a safe room on the ship.
Ten pirates eventually boarded the vessel. They were captured by UAE counter-terrorism forces with support from the Air Force and Air Defence as well as the US Fifth Fleet.
The pirates will be prosecuted in federal courts, according to Eisa bin Haider, a Dubai based advocate, legal consultant and maritime law expert.
"The UAE has jurisdiction over its flag-bearing vessels in international or regional waters," he said. "The Federal Criminal Code states that any crimes involving military or commercial aircraft or vessels bearing the UAE flag are to be prosecuted in the UAE courts.
"Furthermore, if a crime occurs on vessels bearing flags of other countries in UAE ports or waters, they are not to be prosecuted locally except in the case of a request by the flag country or the ship's captain, or if the situation endangers security or the victim or assailant is a UAE citizen."
The UAE military said on Saturday that the pirates would be handed over to the Ministry of Interior once they arrive in Dubai. A senior Dubai Public Prosecution official confirmed that the pirates would not be prosecuted in Dubai.
"Although the vessel was heading to Dubai it would be prosecuted in Abu Dhabi," said the official. "This might be a state security matter which is a federal matter."
The pirates are expected to be transferred to Abu Dhabi-based Federal prosecutors after being processed by the interior ministry. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 9pm today, said Derrick Justin David, the operations executive of Sharaf Shipping, the vessel's agent.
The pirates' case would be heard in the Federal Criminal Court of First Instance, Mr bin Haider said.
The pirates are facing a life sentence if convicted, under Federal law governing the hijack of an aircraft or ship to seize it or its contents or divert it from its route.
chuang@thenational.ae
amustafa@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Salam al Amir
