Industry campaign hits the big screen in battle against Somali piracy

News Release INTERTANKO London October 7, 2011

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SOS
SaveOurSeafarers, a high profile, shipping industry anti- piracy campaign is
taking its message to celluloid with the launch of a short video highlighting
the human and economic cost of Somali piracy. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
The six-minute
video was launched this week at the Safety4Seainternational maritime security
conference in Athens and highlights the significant threat of Somali piracy
attacks for the worldwide seafarer community and potentially for world trade
itself. <o:p></o:p>
The video, which
is also being posted on YouTube, uses a mixture of hard-hitting real life
interviews, and the latest technology to create a “Hollywood style” action
sequence where a ship is captured and hostages taken. This is followed by some
hard-hitting thoughts from a former hostage, from the EUNAVFOR Chief of Staff,
and from a member of the SOS Steering Group. <o:p></o:p>
Commenting on the
launch of the video, Bill Box from SaveOurSeafarers, said: “Whilst recent
incidents such as the high-profile kidnappings of Judith Tebutt and Marie Dedieu have put the issue in the headlines, these two incidents
barely scrape the surface of this ongoing crisis.<o:p></o:p>
“Seafarers have been constantly under threat from Somali pirates for
the last five years, with at times more than 800 innocent seafarers being held
hostage for months on end in appalling conditions and facing mental and physical
torture at the hands of their captors. Piracy costs the global economy as much
as £12billion a year and continues to threaten key transport routes through the
Indian Ocean.”<o:p></o:p>
“The aim of our video is to take the campaign message to a wider
audience and to gain support outside as well as inside the maritime industry,
calling for more determined government  action against Somali
piracy.”<o:p></o:p>
The campaign,
launched in March this year,  is
made up of the largest ever grouping of international seafarers’ organisations, shipping companies and shipping industry
associations. It has already received backing from the British, Philippine and
Georgian governments and has seen support from 180 countries.
<o:p></o:p>
Full information
on the campaign and the video can be found at <A
href="http://www.saveourseafarers.com">www.saveourseafarers.com</A>
<o:p></o:p>
The video can also
be viewed by the following direct link: <o:p></o:p>
<A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLqwVpPALz0&feature=channel_video_title">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLqwVpPALz0&feature=channel_video_title</A> <o:p></o:p></DIV></BODY></HTML>