Combating Piracy 09 is the title of a two-day conference at The Grosvenor Victoria Hotel, London.
The April 28 to 29 event is run by Hanson Wade.<br><br>Ahead of the event chairman Peter Hinchliffe, Marine Director at the International Chamber of Shipping writes:<br><br>The deplorable escalation in incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Aden is quite unprecedented in recent times. That it has taken so long to gain international political support for military action to combat this serious threat reflects the quiet and unassuming way that over 90 per cent of world trade is efficiently and safely transported by merchant shipping. <br><br>The waters in the vicinity of Somalia, a country where no central authority is positioned to defend law and order, have sadly witnessed a downward slide into lawlessness. A final and lasting solution will ultimately only be found through the establishment of effective law and order by shore based authorities. In the interim, nevertheless, the growing presence of warships, from an impressive variety of nations, will hopefully provide significantly improved security for innocent merchant shipping traffic. However, it seems likely that it will be necessary to sustain the current level of deployed military forces for a considerable time to come."<br><br>Speakers invited include Pottengal Mukundan, Director, International Maritime Bureau; Christian Dupont , Deputy Head of Unit for Maritime Security, DG Transport and Energy, European Commission; Lars Pälsson, Head of Group Security, Stena Line; and Giles Noakes, Chief Maritime Security Officer, at shipping association BIMCO. <br>
