Piraatidest – tänase olukorra taustast ja ajaloolistest institutsioonidest
Piraate ja nende tegevust kajastatakse viimasel ajal sedavõrd usinalt, et annaks ka omalt poolt tagasihoidliku panuse piraatluse tausta selgitamiseks. Kuna ma mingile erilisele isiklikule kogemusele toetuda ei saa, siis viitan pigem artiklitele ja uurimustele, mis võimaldavad ehk piraatlust ja piraate mõnevõrra paremini mõista.
Atlantic’us ilmus kunagi 2003. aastal William Langewiesche pikem artikkel Anarchy at Sea. Tegu on pika ja mitmekülgse looga, mis koos kahe teise looga (A Sea Story – Estonia uppumisest, The Shipbreakers – laevade lammutamisest Indias) on saadaval ka raamatuna The Outlaw Sea.
Igal juhul aitab Anarchy at Sea mõista, merenduse majandusliku ja korraldusliku poolt, kus vaatamata paljudele arengutele on jätkuvalt vähe ruumi läbipaistvusel ja kindlusele, mis kahjuks tähendab uppunud laevu ja surnud meremehi nagu selgub loo esimest, sissejuhatavast osast, kus tuleb juttu mõnede vanemate laevade traagilistest viimastest hetkedest:
Strangely, the engine continued to turn, slowly driving the hulk on an erratic course through the night. The crew managed to launch one lifeboat, but it broke away before anyone could climb aboard. The men were panicked, and ultimately twenty-one of them died. But before the end on the sinking stern, there was a moment of savage euphoria when a ship floating in the opposite direction suddenly loomed out of the darkness ahead, as if it were coming to rescue them. The terrified men cheered. To their horror they then saw the name FLARE written on the side. It was of course their own detached bow section, and it passed them by.
Ainuüksi esimene osa vääriks juba mitme värvika intsidendi pärast mainimist, kuid piraatideni jõutakse alles teise osa lõpus, kolmanda alguses.
Huvitav on see, et vaid mõned aastad tagasi oli piraatlus probleem mitte niivõrd Somaalia rannikul kui hoopis Malaka poolsaare tipus, kust pärineb ka artiklist kajastamist leidnud piraatide rünnak:
Intricate planning was involved, most of it logistical. Mintodo and Nanda flew to Jakarta, on the northern tip of Java, where they hired a port service boat to ferry them to the Sanho, an old freighter lying inconspicuously in the outer anchorage. The Sanho was a pirate ship, pure and simple. It was financed by the Boss or his syndicate and commanded by a man who called himself Marnes Zachawarus and is now another fugitive from justice. While lying off Jakarta the Sanho took on fuel and provisions. Over several days a crew of thirty-five pirates was assembled, including of course Mintodo and Nanda. Most of these men were Indonesian, but they included Chinese, Malaysians, Thais, and perhaps other nationalities. They were divided into groups according to skill and function. The hijacking team was made up of fifteen armed men equipped with a fast boat that probably was stowed somewhere aboard.
Kuidas see rünnak lõppes, mis sai piraatidest, mis meeskonnast ja veel parem, mis sai laevast, võib iga üks juba ise edasi lugeda. Huvitavad on ka rünnakute tagajärjed piraatidele, mis peaaegu kunagi ei vii vahistamiseni või vabaduse kaotuseni.
Piraatide vastasest võitlusest tuleb juttu ka seoses ameeriklaste terrorihirmuga ja kuidas rahvusvahelise kaubanduse sujuva toimimise garanteerimine seab olulisi kitsendusi meetoditele ja vahenditele, mida saab laevade ja olukorra kontrollimiseks kasutada. Oma panuse annab loomulikult ka meri ise, mille anarhiliste ulatuste pidev monitooring on lubamatult kallis isegi ameeriklastele. Sellele vaatamata nad üritavad läbi tehnoloogia ja seadusandluse, kuid asjatundjatele näivad enamus neist tühistena:
Reflecting a widespread view, one of them said to me, “We’re doing nothing but creating this pile of regulations. It’s a small pile compared to other piles, but look what the flags of convenience have already done with those. Oh, on paper everything will be all right, but in reality it will not make any difference. And what is a flag of convenience, after all? It’s an absolute nothing. In the worst cases it’s just a commercial company running a registry. Money flows in and certificates flow out. I don’t want to use words like ‘cowardice’ or ‘over-reaction’ to describe what the United States has done – just ’ineffective.’ Because you can get all the paperwork you want, no problem. And it will not help.”
Artiklis leiab mainimist ka Kuala Lumpuris asuv International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Center, millel on täna oma veebikülg, kus Google Maps rakendus võimaldab saada hea ülevaate 2008. aastal raporteeritud piraadirünnakutest.
Täitsa artikli lõpus selgub ka peamine põhjus, miks piraate on keeruline karistada ja peaaegu keegi pole huvitatud nende vahistamisest ega vastutusele võtmisest:
Mumbai police operate in a chaotic city of 18 million people, with plenty of homegrown criminality, and they had a different view. One of their high officials later told me that the Alondra Rainbow was like an orphan dropped off on the doorstep. He said, “The common practice if such a ship comes, you shoo her away. Otherwise you don’t know what to do with her. The question of jurisdiction comes up everywhere? The same was true for the pirates, criminals whom he called “the scum of the earth.” What would happen, he asked, if India convicted and imprisoned them, but after their release Indonesia refused to recognize or accept them? There was little chance of that happening in this case, he admitted, but when the orphans were first delivered, the possibility had to be considered, if only in the abstract.
Kuna artikkel on üpris pikk, siis üritasin välja tuua mõned huvitavamad lõigud, mis motiveerivad ehk isegi edasi lugema.
Vabalogis on aga piraatidest varemgi juttu olnud – näiteks seoses James Surowiecki artikliga New Yorker’is , mis käsitles majandusteadlase Peter Leesoni piraaditeemalisi uuringuid Rational Choice, Round Robin, and Rebellion: An Institutional Solution to the Problems of Revolution (PDF), An-arrgh -chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization (PDF) ja Pirational Choice: The Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices (PDF).
Leeson on enda uurimuste põhjal kirjutanud ka raamatu The Invisible Hook, mis peaks samuti peatselt ilmuma.
Muide, kes veel ei tea, siis eesti keeles kajastab merendust (sealhulgas ka piraatide probleemi) jätkuvalt Mereblog.
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