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Conference to address future of naval patrols in Gulf of Aden

Conference to address future of naval patrols in Gulf of Aden

London: A high-level conference on piracy is being held in London in late April where the opening speech will be a latest progress report on the EU Atalanta naval mission to the Gulf of Aden from chief of staff Richard Farrington, Captain Royal Navy. Other speakers will include the heads of security of the European Commission's Directorate General for Energy and Transport, the US Maritime Administration, Bimco and leading shipowners such as Maersk and Stena.

The conference will be chaired by Peter Hinchliffe (pictured), marine director of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). "We had tremendous difficulty getting international public and political opinion to accept that there was a problem that parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) had to do something about," he tells Seatrade Asia Online. "You could say that this was a reflection of the very low profile of shipping."

Finally the message got through and there was "a remarkable deployment of military force," Hinchliffe continues. 'But now we have to look to the future and figure out how we keep the political will and military effort at the same level as today over a number of years."

The piracy conference is being held at the Grosvenor Victoria Hotel in London on April 28 and 29, followed by a day of workshops on April 30. For further details please see www.marseq.com . [23/03/09]