Johannesburg — WHILE piracy may overshadow many more critical challenges facing Africa's maritime sector, the aggression and increasing frequency of the attacks make it hard to ignore.

Pirates plague shipping lines on the east coast of Africa, with more incidents recorded every month and pirates straying further out to sea and south towards Mozambique.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reported 38 incidents of attempted hijacking in May alone, most of them in the waters around Somalia. Since 1984, the year in which the IMO started keeping records of pirate activity, 500 acts of piracy have been recorded along the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden.

The Brenthurst Foundation, in a document titled Maritime Development in Africa, highlights piracy as one of the threats to economic development and security in Africa. The document calls on African Union to lead the drafting of an African strategy to address a range of economic and security issues - including piracy - and for African governments to take control of their marine assets.

"The rapid increase in piracy off the Somali coast led to four meetings of the United Nations Security Council during the second half of 2008 and to the adoption of Resolutions 1838 and 1851, encouraging nations to commit themselves to the combating of piracy in the area and even to the legalisation of hot pursuit operations ashore - onto sovereign Somali territory," the document reads.

"(However) actions designed to combat the threat have resulted in attacks taking place further from the coast and much further south than previously, for example the Sirius Star was hijacked 450 miles southeast of Mombasa (in November 2008)."

While the pirates off the coast of Somalia have not yet attacked a South African registered or flagged ship, there is concern about the incidents creeping further south.

"The fact that the pirates are moving further south and out to sea makes interception increasingly difficult and costly as more resources are needed to police the waters," says retired Rear - Adm Steve Stead, one of the document's authors.

While few in the industry are concerned about pirates straying into South African waters - which are well patrolled and protected by adverse weather conditions - the issue cannot be completely ignored.

"There is no doubt that piracy increases the cost of doing business," says Andrew Thomas, CEO of Ocean Africa Container Lines. "Even though we don't have an issue with piracy in our business, it does (affect) insurance costs in the industry."

The Brenthurst report says the recent sharp rise in pirate activity has led to a 12%-15% spike in premiums for general cover, while special risk cover for ships crossing the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen has soared from 500 to 20 000.

Mr Thomas says concern about piracy was one of the main reasons Ocean Africa decided against introducing a new service through the Gulf of Aden.

He is also concerned that pirates straying further south along Africa's east coast may eventually affect Ocean Africa's Mozambican operations.

Yet the task of protecting the east coast has fallen largely to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces, with little support from African navies.

South African Navy spokesman Capt Jaco Theunissen says SA does not provide patrols or support outside South African waters unless assistance is requested from a neighbouring African government. So far it has not been asked to help.

Another factor preventing African states from protecting their own waters is lack of capacity. "The northern states, those that border on the Mediterranean, have the majority of the assets and these are not practically available for deployment in sub-Saharan waters," the Brenthurst authors say.

The document states that to patrol the 7,8-million square kilometres of coastal waters south of the Sahara, there are five frigates, seven medium-range patrol aircraft, 18 coastal patrol vessels and about 60 craft that can conduct limited offshore patrols, and about the same number of inshore patrol craft.

"Most countries are simply too poor to develop or support adequate naval forces."

Rear-Adm Stead says an overarching maritime strategy for the continent would tackle the roots of piracy - not just incidents of piracy at sea.

"The problem with pirates in Somalia started with fishermen no longer able to make a living from fishing and turning to piracy. An overarching strategy will address the cause of the problem, by tackling illegal fishing - and not just the result of the problem, which is piracy."