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t n a d LTTE THE DYNAMICSOF INFRASTRUCTURE g r o . e n i l n o f r o . w w w ’S COMMERCIAL MARITIME BY VIJAY SAKHUJA APRIL 2006 OCCASSIONAL PAPER MARITIME INFRASTRUCTURE THE DYNAMICS OF LTTE’S COMMERCIAL the salience of sea power as perceived by a vio a by perceived as power sea of salience the on focuses strategy.paper and The infrastructure organisation,maritime its of development the of From very humble beginnings, the LTTE’s the mari beginnings, humble very From EARLY DEVELOPMENT T ern India ern to Jaffna through Lanka Sri northern in lishedshippinga lane from Tamil Nadu southin armsandammunition. The estab also had LTTE LTTE personnel and military hardware, including ferry to used also were vessels These life. daily of necessities general other and material building grain, food as such cargo domestic transport to used were These launches. motor and trawlers boats, fishing small made locally of fleet large a one to two shipping containers. carrying of capable vessels some have also may The vessels. these LTTE steer to crew trained ally profession and launches, motor high-speed ers, trawl fishing of number large a ships,merchant mercial maritime infrastructure includes a fleet of com present-day LTTE The state. island small a of facilities maritime the with compete well can time assets and organisation are quite capable and mari Its network. sophisticated a of boasts day to and way long a come has infrastructure time LTTE’s of fleet ships. the on registry (FOC) Convenience of Flag the of impact and code (ISPS) Security Facility Port andInternational Ship the Initiative(PSI), curity Se Proliferation the including regimes, security maritime 9/11 post the of impact the on focuses paper The leaders. its of thinking strategic the in power of instrument an as sea the of standing conflicts.metric asym in power employnon-statesea actorshow lent non-state actor and provides a perspective on In the early stages, the LTTE had at its disposal under LTTE’s the highlights also paper The Tamil Eelam (LTTE)—tracing the history of Tigers Liberation the of frastructure i ppr xmns h mrtm in maritime the examines paper his 1 |www.orfonline.org |April200 ------6 LTTE supply bases were in the districts of Tiru of districts the in were bases supply LTTE The Ramanathapuram. Salem, and Tiruchi Arcot, Thanjavur, South Puddukkotai, Chengalpattu, Anna, Madurai, of districts the in in Tamil Nadu camps training LTTE 25 were There Minister. Chief the then Ramachandran, M.G. edge of the political establishment of Tamil Nadu. Nadu was the hub of LTTE’s maritime activity.LTTE’smaritime of hub the was Nadu rs n amnto ars te ak tat to Strait Palk the across ammunition and arms ferried who smugglers professional of hub the tion base for LTTE operations. Nagapattinam was communica the was Thanjavur operatives. and cadres LTTE wounded the for facilities medical the provided Tiruchi in hospitals smugglers, for yar for uniforms. While Tuticorin was a sanctuary Peri and explosives, for Dharmapuri explosives; ammunitionand for source a as imbatoreserved Co Rameshwaram. and Thanjavur Pudukkotai, Periyar,Madurai, Dharampuri,Coimbatore, chi, to Indian the government concern of note a governmentsending Lanka Sri the in resulted it that such was Tamilfishermen and Indian between understanding The punity. im total enjoyed and community fishing local the of assistance the with operations conducted The LTTE LTTE. the for strength of source tant impor an became who Tamilfishermen Sri Lankan and Indian the among network a establish land up to set training camps. and money with LTTETamil the providedNadu in government state sympathetic A refugees. the among feelings Lanka anti-Sri strong were There LTTE. the and Tamilrefugees the forhaven safe a as emerged Nadu Tamil Tamil Consequently, towards Nadu. moved and country the flee to began area Jaffna the and Colombo in living ils mjr mat n h Tml omnt. Tam community. Tamil the on impact major a Palkthe Strait. LTTE’s activities were flourishing with the knowl the that out pointed unambiguously report The Si akn eot ihihe ta Tamil that highlighted report Lankan Sri A Domestic conditions were also favourable to favourable also were conditions Domestic The 1983 anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka had Lanka Sri in riots anti-Tamil 1983 The . 1 2 ------
Jaffna inSriLanka. with the financial transactions of the LTTE but in also procur confessional statement he disclosed: interrogatedIndianwas Intelligenceand the by Bureau. his In Thailand also emerged as a port for for port LTTE’s a as emerged commercial mari also Thailand and other bulky goods . By the early 1990s, Phuket in southern fertilizer,cement backbrought voyage,return the during and reversal of fortunes for the LTTE. There was a major decline major a was There LTTE. the for fortunes of reversal in 1984 was named MV LTTE the by purchased vessel large first Reportedly, the too. to explore hadbegun possibility the of acquiring larger vessels it time, same At the areas. Trincomalee sea off Batticaloa and Bay, Palk the across operations for vessels fast but small on Corporation. activity.time Kong. Hong and Singapore Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, in fices vessels to facilitate both arms procurement as well as run its le shippingown its have to wantedLTTE the that fact the by en as Kadalpura identifiedlater was that coast Kerala the onshipbuildingyard a from vessel another of construction for orders placed have cargo.toknown eral LTTE also At the istime, same about the gen of transportation legitimate the for used also was vessel charteredas ships risky.becomehad To cover activity, this the tially used for smuggling arms and other military requirements MV IrrawadyTwantedelta. the off located of island the in base shipping modest a establish to ernment ‘KP’ since 1986....” of contacts the throughannum per dollars US million four to LTTE haspurchasing been arms and ammunition worth three The ... dealers. arms underworld the from arms of purchase in dealing been had LTTE the of Sornalingam alias Shankar Earlier 1986. August since line this in been has ‘KP’ Cyprus. WestUK, Germany, Yugoslavia, France,Austriaand Belgium, the as such countries European various in operating arms dealers underworld the through purchased are Tigers the by requiredammunition and arms the of Mostorganisation. his for gadgets electronic essential other and boats/engines glass ing arms and ammunition, communication equipments, fibre of their having companies dummy several of under ownership the registered were which freighters, small six or five to gitimate maritime commercial activity. The fleetthus increased gov Myanmar the from permission obtained also LTTE The magnate. shipping Mumbai-based a from purchased was sel “ ‘KP’ [KP alias T.S. Kumaran] has been dealing not only not dealing been has T.S.Kumaran] alias [KP ‘KP’ “ The sudden urge acquireto its driv own partly vessels was The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 was a dramatic a was 1991 in Gandhi Rajiv of assassination The centered then till was infrastructure The LTTE’s maritime David alias Captain Piraisudi started the Tigers Shipping Tigers the started Piraisudi Captain alias David 6 These vessels carried timber and grain from grain Myanmar and timber carried vessels These . 7 5 In February 1991, David was arrested in Madras
8 3 Cholan . 4 Thissecond-hand cargo ves Cholan 2 was essen was |www.orfonline.org |April200 ------Chalk, a noted scholar on LTTE activities, has described the the described has activities, LTTE on scholar noted a Chalk, Peter requirements. logistic and combat to according tasked multi-dimensional, been has the LTTE of structure force The THE SEAPIGEONS:MARITIME WING adversarial conditions for the LTTE. The loss of Indian logisti in resulted forces security and agencies intelligence Indian of operations combing ruthless The support. logistic for Kerala longer rely no on could The Lanka. LTTE Sri Tamil Nadu and northern to shifted was this of Much India. in logistics and infrastructure its of much dismantle to LTTE the forced this and Nadu Tamil in LTTE the for support public general in vessels to transport military goods. Although LTTE procure LTTE Although goods. military transport to vessels of number a charter to monitored.began The be would LTTE apprehension the in earlyand2000 in that LTTE-owned ships Atlantic and Pacific the Ocean. transport spanning across the globe, LTTE ships cross both the arms Withregions. these in activities shipping and curement ment officers have been active in Africa and in South and Cen on impact with target.” the Idayan45kta , suicide craft fittedwith explosivesthat detonate two-man the and teams; landing attack for and logistics craft, 10 crew and three machine-guns, used for attacks against naval 45kt the craft; naval against attacks for used and machine-gun single a with armed six, of crew a by manned machine-gun and forused deploying frogmen; the 10kt 45kt the craft: fibreglass of to aterrorism Rohan Gunaratna: expert, According peninsula. Jaffna the to linked that lagoon) (Kilali incewere Sea Tigersclosed.The heldsea route the on to Kilali prov northern the to peninsula Jaffna link which Pooneryn, 1994, when the two land routes, namely the Elephant Pass and in evident quite was This Jaffna. to access having sea by point a primary shipbuilding yard of the LTTE and also a vital transit boatyardemergedandhadcapturedas Kilali boats. 500 some LTTE’s the destroyedNavy Kilali Lankan Sri the 1993 28, ber tral America, there is very little intelligence of the LTTE proLTTE the of intelligencelittle very is there America, tral Reportedly,operationan‘Yal in codenamed Devi’ Vanni the camouflagedalongboatyardsandlocated coastline. extensive at shipbuilding indigenous its began also coastal and trade in engage could that vessels smaller some acquired 1,000 to 1,500 tons dead weight tonnage (dwt). The also LTTE distant markets. logistical support for transporting arms and ammunition from reliable a provide could that fleet maritime ocean-bound its augment to LTTE the for reason primary the was support cal The LTTE changed its operations towards the late 1990s late the towards operations its changed LTTE The “By 1995, Sea Tiger dockyards had manufactured four types What emerged was a fleet of about a dozen vessels that were 6 9 , with four crew, a single a crew, four with Thrikka,
Murajwith , on Septemon Sudai, ------OCCASSIONAL PAPER “Except for the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Pal ‘Sea Pigeons’ as follows: modus operandiformodusprocurement transporta the andarmsof LTTE’s the explains 39) TN (Ex. Police NaduTamil by filed called trawler as cover for and drug arms trans-shipments.” to took shippingcompanyhis heused andway big a in drugs smuggling money extra generate to So, ammunition. and arms it give as well as LTTE the finance to noted:jan further LTTEofshipping head operations.Thyagra ‘KP’, the or Pathmanathanis Kumaran alias Kumaran Shanmugam Tharmalingam lice, of Po Superintendent CBI the Thyagrajan, andtransportingLTTE cadres.According to smuggling human gunrunning, smuggling, drug in engage also vessels LTTE The etc. steel, salt, sugar, flour, cement, timber, cargo like general of variety a transporting in engage vessels These fleet. commercial the in serve to occasion on transferred are gers Ti Sea the But Tigers. Sea the of that from different is fleets commercial the of cation communi and control command, The gers. ships operates independently of the Sea Ti Sea the of independently operates ships TS Kmrn lnwt AS Sataua @ aa, .... Rajan, @ Shanthakumar A.S. alongwith Kumaran T.S. @ MV trawler Tong the Nova for use in by the LTTE in them their illegal activities. ... ‘KP’ transport to and places other and Bangkok from clandestinely ammunitions and arms of ment LTTEof leadersthe organisation in-chargeis who ofprocure Harbour PSCr. No 350/91)reads as follows: M1 City (Madras case this in Sheet Charge strategy.The tion theatre of war.” arms, ammunition and other war-related materiel to the LTTE supplyingexplosives, in role vital a play they cent per five ing panies located in Asia…ninety five per cent of the time the ves com frontvarious by owned typically arePan-Ho-Lib… and as …known flags, Liberian orHonduran Panamanian, under travel mostly communicationsmarsat vessels technology. The of arewhich ers, all equipped sophisticatedwith radar and In Today1980s. mid the numbers fleet the at elevenfreightleast shippingin Bombaymagnate a ofhelp the with network time sels transport legitimate commercial goods…for the remain the goods…for commercial legitimate transport sels mari its building started The vessels.going LTTE sea deep of fleet a disposal own its at have to known is that organisation estine Liberation Organisation, the LTTE is the only insurgent n oebr 91 te nin ay necpe a LTTE a intercepted Navy Indian the 1991, November In enough rich notbut rich, very was ‘KP’ “ The LTTE fleet of ocean-going merchantocean-going of fleet The LTTE “.... ‘KP’ alias T.S. Kumaran is a Sri Lankan and one of the the of one and Lankan Sri T.S.a “....Kumaran alias is ‘KP’ in Indian waters. The charge sheet charge The waters. Indian in TongNova 10
- - - - - apprehension thatLTTE- owned shipswouldbe of vesselstotransport The LTTEchangedits monitored. Itbegan 3 to charteranumber operations towards in early2000the the late1990sand |www.orfonline.org |April200 military goods. ------h LT ognsto a Jffa n gtig ntutos re instructions getting and Jaffna at organisation LTTE the of leaders the contacting for premises these in installed were ostensible products. Butmilk wireless in receiverof dealing sets purpose for Vellore Perumugai, at 1988 year the in farm dairy a established Sigirthakumar, ... and Easwaran @ Easan in which arms and ammunitions procured illegally from Bang the ship, killing himself and the LTTE cadres. This and oth and This cadres. LTTE the and himself killing ship, the other aspect of the LTTE’s the ofoptimal the aspect operationsotherismaritime but no LTTE ships transporting narcotics have been intercept couriers with links to the LTTE have arrestedbeen worldwide, voyagetheir to prevent beingcaptured by enemy. the starting before just wired and explosives with fitted areLTTE the of fleet ocean-going The combat. active in participate or engage not does fleet LTTE the that show instances such er entrusted persons to over them handed later and niancheevu MV trawler the broughtin Balan from mm 9 and AK-47 of cartridges live pistols, mm 9 set, receiver wireless a .... Balendran received a consignment of four boxes containing 1991, June during Kodiakkarai near Maniantheevu at acts.… terrorist ofcommission for ship by surreptitiouslyin brought garding concealment of arms and ammunitions in Tamil Nadu twelve to fifteen ships that are 1000 to 1500 tons dwt. dwt. an tons Yet 1500 to 1000 are that ships fifteen to twelve butestimatessomefrom arestrength varies possible.fleet The trawlers, and smaller vessels in the inventory of the LTTE fleet, intelligence on LTTE the shipping lines. ed or searched. Thiscould be attributed tothe lack of intrusive Ma at consignment as said above the concealed Balendran .... Lanka. Sri in LTTE by use for Mullaitheevu at unloaded ammunitionsand arms the of part and transported were kok At samethe time, it is important to keep in mind that drug t s icl t dtrie h peie ubr f ships, of number precise the determine to difficult is It 6 rs We calne, aaia Krish Sadasivam challenged, When arms. ship the hadonboard hugea consignment of MV crew to jump overboard and then destroyed then and overboardjump to crew civilian the ordered Kittu waters, territorial the in vessel the board to made attemptwas anWhen vessel. the boardNavy todiannot vessel was towed to Madras Port but sank af supporter Pazha Nedumaran to mediate. The that Amnesty International or LTTE’s Indian requestedandmission peace a on was vessel the that Navy Indian the informed tariat), Secre International LTTE London-based the of head then (the ‘Kittu’ alias nakumar, Navy. Indian the by cepted ter catching fire. Earlier, ‘Kittu’ told the In the ‘Kittu’told Earlier,fire. catching ter Tamil Nadu.” with workthe of committing terrorist in acts In another instance, on January 14, 1993, Januaryanotherinstance,Inon14, Ahat,
nte LT si, a inter was ship, LTTE another 11 Reportedly, TongNova ------
to 1986 and grew in rank to be become the Master of Lankan Lankan Air Force destroyed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Janto (Yahata1986 December during trainingobtained He ). training them in different positions of responsibilitydifferentofintepositions in and them training deployment of its maritime personnel in varying capacities and n eray 1996, February in number of LTTE vessels. LTTE of number TADA statement, recorded by CBI, the V. Jayachandra stated: his In vessels. nine least at of comprised fleet LTTE the time, survivor,a pickedas upthatatthatwasand reveal sank vessel a dsryd p o he LT mrhn vessels. merchant LTTE three to up destroyed has share, interdicting three vessels. These were: destroyedNovemberin The 1997. Indian had has its Navy too was vessel Similarly,unknown Phuket.another at loaded was and Cambodia in originated that arms of consignment huge a onboard have to believed was vessel The 1996. February in Before and afterthe training, Jayachandra had stayed Tigers.at Thiru Sea of base training the Mallipattinam, at 1987 uary of Master achandra, to the Liberation movement. Then I worked in many shipsbe initially I joined as a 2nd officer in the was brought I Singapore. Then to 1984, ... October agreed I In workto willing shipwasthere. ninga I and asked whether me run forarrangedLTTE that said and me met Sugumar 1984, July In 1984. year the during shore sea Vedaranyam at gers of Master dra, V.Captain Jayachaninterrogationsof the instance: such one grating them into a architecture of role and operations. To cite best, explainsbest, included: These this. capacities, various in served Vairamuthu Jayachandra which onboard ships of number The time. in point that atLTTE the by owned vessels the of name the revealed also interrogation at Karaikal from September 1989 to December 1989. The above vanmiyur in Madras from September 1986 to March 1987 and longing to Liberation the movement.” fleet as the Second Officer onboardOfficer Second the as the fleet
Yahata (Ahat) –Master, September 8,1992onwards. Tong Nova –Master, March 1991to July 1991. Ali Joshing –Master January 91to March 1991. 1991. January to 1990 September Officer, Chief – Bird Golden Yelicia Officer, –Chief September 1988 to September 1989. Sun Bird Officer, –Chief March 1988to September 1989. Sea Horse –Captain, November 1987to March 1988. Iliyana Officer, –Chief July 1987to November 1987. Cholan –2nd officer, 1984 to September October 1986. “Sugumaran .... was in-charge of the jetty belonging to Ti to belonging jetty the ofin-charge was “Sugumaran.... According to Rohan Gunaratna, the Sri Lankan military military Lankan Sri the Gunaratna, Rohan to According V.JayCaptain that emerged it investigations the During MV n oebr 91 and 1991 November in NovaTong , who jumped overboard before the the before overboard jumped who Ahat, MV 13 a sre obad large a onboard served had Ahat He began his career in the LTTE the in career his began He MV Horizon and 12 Cholan, the ship belongs MV Cholanfrom 1984 MV MV Ahat (Yahata) 4 Comex |www.orfonline.org |April200 15 MV The Sri The 14 Mari
Ahat Jules ------
by the Sri Lankan navy. Lankan Sri the by Lanka Sri of coast east the off miles nautical around240 sunk seen at the Ukrainian Port of Marupol. Reportedly, the regis Reportedly, the Marupol. of Port Ukrainian the at seen last Itwas Sea. Black the of ports the businessin do to known is and Turkey Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, in operates She . Like Like Bird. military equipment and was sailing under the name of VenusMalaysia.Itsin cargoincluded1990 in sightedfirst was In 1994, the ship was sailing under the name of MV of name the under sailing was ship the 1994, In LTTE. the forUkraine fromexplosives high oftransportation African countries. The ship had been registered in Honduras. in registered been had ship The countries. African andSea African ports in the Mediterranean andSea the North rn sipn cmay ae i Greece. in based company shipping front particularly in Malaysian ports. The ship is owned by an LTTE MV solely owned by LTTE. the waters”. The crewconsisted oftwelve Sea Tigers ;the vessel was internationalfor“specific oneflag and LTTEflag one mast, at flags two flying coast, east the off miles nautical 266 waters, MV MV in 1999. Likewise, Malaysia too had seized the cargoof the seized had Malaysia too Likewise, amma1999. in LTTE. merchant ship used by the LTTE to transport arms, ammu arms, transport to LTTE the by used ship merchant off loaded off the coast of Sri Lanka to Tiger speedboats. be Nikolayevto of port Ukrainian the fromvoyagecircuitous andlong RDXtonsover ofthe 10 and TNT tonsof 50 carried of Marseilles in France. in Marseilles of Port at sighted last was ship The London. at company, based shippingLTTE an by managed is vessel, cargo general a don, another LTTE vessel capsized off the coast of Thailand in No in Thailand of coast the off capsizedLTTEanother vessel tered owner is based in Turkey. In August 1995, Turkey.August Inin based is owner tered anda variety ofcarry cargo. For instance, different on sail routes They PanamaZealand. Newand beria, warnings by the Sri Lankan Navy to stop. The vessel was a mer the follow not did it and ship the on name visible a or flag al navy.the with engagement an after sank ship the 2003 14, June On Mullaittivu.off coast Lankan Sri the to countries Asian South-East from diesel and nition involved incident first The ships. LTTE with vember 1992. ship was identified as the India; of direction the in sailing was and diesel of cargo legal a had shipLTTE financially.LTTE, the the Accordingto operated by an independent shipping company supporting the meters long and had 11 crew members,Tigers, Sea all and was 61 approximatelyandof chant wide tankermeters tons,8 700 The second incident involved MV incident second The There are several other ships too in the inventory of the of inventory the in too ships other several are There Recently, the Sri Lankan Navy was involved in engagements Emerald operates in South East Asia, in the Bay of Bengal, was an oil tanker and was sailing in internationalin sailing was andShoshintanker oil an was in December 1990. Reportedly, 1990. December in BirdSun 18 These are registered in Malta, Honduras, Cyprus, Li Honduras, Cyprus, Malta, in registered are These 6 MV , the ship operated in ports in the Black the in ports in operated ship the Baris, MV Koimar 17 MV The vessel did not have a nation a have not did vessel The Star
. , a tanker, is owned tanker,is Sapphirea , 16
According to the LTTE, the Accordingto Koimar MV MV . This vessel was vessel This . Baris is forused MV MV iy f Lon of City MV a Shoshin, Cholakeri, MV Sun Swanee Swanee 19
MV ------.
OCCASSIONAL PAPER sailing’. distance long trans-oceanic of capable and equipped well be Marchbyvessels,to‘most are said11 2000, which hadof fleet to it build use its capabilities. According andto a Lloyds estimate, the LTTE it support to continued has leadership LTTE the that shows clearly and flourished has it setbacks, Despite the of LTTE. cadres and leaders transport to used been also have maritime activities. hijacking of vessels and changed names and physical charac physical and names changed and vessels of hijacking to resorted also had LTTE the fleet, its augment to order In HIJACKED VESSELS MV Tara globe. operatethe acrossto known Swedish businessmanis anda by Liberia. Liberia. MonroviaMontanain the shippingin byStarlocated Limited South Africa with 163 passengers on 22 July, 1992. Mosselbaai for Phuket left Thailand) Vida, company shell shells from Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) left the Mo the left (ZDI) Industries Defence Zimbabwe from shells ZDI assumed that the Sri Lankan government had sent a ship a governmentsent had Lankan Sri the thatassumed ZDI destination. its reach not did ship The government. Lankan Sri the to belonged consignment The Lanka. Sri Colombo, to en-routesupposedly 1997 23, Mayon Beira of port zambican the LTTE has hijacked foreign vessels, but the affected govern According to Gunaratna: ping fleet that has effectively evaded monitoring and detection. phantom a ship created have to known is The teristics. LTTE vessel such One tions. by LTTE. the hijacked been had vessel the that confirmed 1999 30, Juneon and may engaged be as a phantom vessel. A subsequent report still unknown. The vessel was apparently hijacked bythe LTTE is 15 of ship’screw the of fate the and disappearedhowever, ship, The Malacca. of port Malaysian the at 1999 31, May on India on May 25, 1999 with a cargo of bagged salt and was due from sailed ship The ship,missing.goreported was Tuticorin, even outsidecrime waters. SriLankan maritimeengagedin andappearancealso likelythatitis itis - ship’sname the changing - shipping phantom of mastery its regularly quite demonstrated has LTTE the Since LTTE. the implicating evidence conclusive present to failed have ments India. TuticorinSouth and Malein of ports the between gion The LTTE shipping network has progressed fairly well. fairly progressed has network shipping LTTE The The LTTE has also engaged in human smuggling opera smuggling human in engaged also has LTTE The In yet another case, case, another yet In For instance, oe ot-at sa itliec aece blee that believe agencies intelligence Asian South-east Some MV 21 MV I These vessels have engaged in both legal and illegal illegal and legal both in engaged have vessels These (earlier Vebus scrapped.) has since been Montana (earlier City of Liverpool 23 MV Sik Yang, a 2,818-ton, Malaysian-flag car MV a ship with a cargo of 32,000 mortar 32,000 of cargo a with ship a Rud Pink FowPinkRudLTTE(registeredby Star Sapphire) is a tanker operated
operates in the Indian Ocean Re 22 20 5 |www.orfonline.org |April200 The ships in ------and drug trafficking that have fuelled funds for the procure the for funds fuelled have that trafficking drug and means. By far the most lucrative means have been gunrunning kidnappingsandrobberies that bank fact aremoney-spinning and protracted means to garner funds for its sustenance. It is a demands huge and sustained conflict resources. The LTTE has used various asymmetrical ways long-drawn attritional An SHIPPING ROUTES authorities port cargoof consignee.the and the The MOD de to collect the munitions, but the company alleged that the con (July 1997), (July Misen of the reported relatecases to the hijacking of transfer from ship the to one of its own vessels smaller failed. mid-sea a effect toplansconsignment itsorderedand the had areas where lax laws exist, coupled with easy availability of ma in activities trading their undertake toorganisations terrorist for natural quite is It operations. fuelling and arms of ment suspected strongly authorities Indian The fiscated. identity papers, had ordered the consignment. forgedHe had the with pay MOD the of official senior a as posing Moscow company’s the visitedin headquartershad who person, a that nied having ordered any such consignment. Enquiries revealed the LTTE.the to transferred cargo the and freighters LTTE the of one was 1997) and Princess Kash (August 1998). that care take of procurement and shipment. North Korea. The LTTE hasfront companies inthese countries andJapan as far as and countries Asian South-East several in contacts sustained and established has It smuggling. human and smuggling drug gunrunning, involves activity illegal the The legaltrade activity involvestransporting generalcargo and objectives. these of pursuit in shipping illegal and legitimate liketerials arms and ammunition, and supportive suppliers. 1995), gust con was it and consignment the York.Newclaimed Nobody from remittance bank a by made consignment the for ment the called ship a onto loaded was signment longer rely on supply routes from Tamil Nadu and hence began With its operational in bases southern India closed it could no market. international the the from supplies (IPKF), arms obtained LTTE Force Keeping Peace Indian the against while of the Government of India.Governmentof the of (MOD) Defence of Ministry the companyforRussian a from in 1993. The vessel wascarrying a consignment of AK-47rifles in point is the ship that anchored off Cochin port in south India In the past,ß the LTTE has hijacked several vessels. Some vessels. several hijacked has LTTE the past,ß the In The LTTE has optimally deployed and engaged in both in engaged and deployed optimally has LTTE The n t srgl aant h Si akn iiay n fr a for and military Lankan Sri the against struggle its In InLTTE the some cases, successful.case A so has not been 24 6 PrincessWave (August1996),
(July 1997), (July BongMorong 25 The Captain had informed the informed Captain had The 26
Athena 27 Limassol Irish Mona (Au (Sept (Sept Cordiality
(May 1997), (May the LTTE the which , ------of Arakanese smugglers operating across the Bay of Bengal be along their coast in the Andaman Sea. Dur transiting Thailand/Singapore/Cambodia from ammunition and arms transporting voyages several made Crow) (Black liana a circuitous direction. For instance,For circuitousdirection. a routemuchgundifferent was followed and to SriLanka. passage onward for sea at vessels larger to vesselsthese then transfer the consignment and trawlers fishing small onboard loaded are arms The Sea. Andaman and Bengal of The guntrade routepasses through theBay outside the territorial waters of Bangladesh. The crew of crew The Bangladesh. of waters territorial the outside outsidewaitedforChittagong,ithad much Navy Indian The Bangladesh. in tagong, Chit entered had and rifles 700 of ment ing one such voyage, it carried a consign a carried it voyage, such one ing LTTE had always perceived the threat of interdiction of its sup The shores. distant in chains supply logistic longer on rely to Illiana shipwaiting outside interdictto it.It vesthat the suspected is coast. Sea Andaman the to Isthmus Kra the then across land by and moved Songkhla and Chumporn of provinces southern the to Thailand of Gulf the across directly shipped are ments authorities port the and may have found shelter inThailand. coverunderconnivance ofdarkness escaped the or with ofsel Phuket. and Ranong notably most coast, Sea Andaman Thailand’s on ports the to south and Bangkok past land by there from and Rayong and Sattahip as such Thailand of Gulf the of end northern the at noukville and Koh Kong, moving along the coast to Thaiports Siha of ports Cambodian the fromoriginate operations ning activities are conducted using its fleet of ships. The gunrun The ships. of fleet its using conducted are activities These gun. of network sophisticated very a established had LTTE The operations. LTTE the for materials of source tant from Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar too havebeen impor Asia has been the main source of weapons for the LTTE. Apart South-East in Cambodia region, Asia Bengal–South-East of tosels ship its arms supplies to Jaffna. Bay, the LTTE has had to rely on smaller boats and fishing ves Palk the Navyin Indian the offormidablepresence the Given Tamilremnantin supportersNadu. the on depending by tion the LTTE did take risks and transport their arms and ammuni transportationIndianthroughsituationswaters.Inwassome ply chains by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard whenever such hr i as a atrae ot truh hc consign which through route alternate an also is There In terms of its regional access and source points in the Bay the andsourceregionalitspointsofInaccesstermsin uig prto Pwn te LTTE the Pawan, Operation During 29
had information about the presence of the Indian naval The LTTE is also reported to have hired the services services the hired have to reported also is LTTE The MV Il 28 - - - -
possible. The fleet strength fifteen shipsthatare1,000 inventory oftheLTTEfleet, It is difficult todetermine It isdifficult but someestimatesare the precisenumberof varies fromtwelveto smaller vesselsinthe 6 ships, trawlers,and to 1,500tonsdwt. |www.orfonline.org |April200 MV ------
southern Bangladesh. tween Ranong in Thailand andCox’s Bazaar andChittagong in In the past, there have been several incidents involvingseveral therehave Sri past, been Inthe the THE RISEOFANEWNAVY for the LTTE’s drug-trafficking network. According to an in an to Accordingnetwork. LTTE’s drug-trafficking the for base important an offering thus junta, military the of leaders some of connivance the with legitimized been has Myanmar hardware and supplies by boat from the northern coast of Mul ‘harbour’ for LTTE to transport its cadres, provisions, military safe a been also Veruhal-Vaakharaihas the Mullaittivu,coast Besides, island. the to approaches maritime the also are they andLTTE the strongholdsof the be to knownMullaittivu are contiguous to areas activity.The such for known well are tivu from Myanmar and the Indian north-east. IndianMyanmar the fromand operating factions insurgent and LTTE the including groups, insurgent regional various for narcotics as well as weapons isessentially maritimea mafia operation that isknown to ship cultivation. Aceh rebels are known to engage in gun-running in engageto knownare Acehrebels cultivation. ‘ganja’ small-scale to resorting are province the of areas mote re the in Acehnese some report, military Indonesian ternal manned by its cadres/personnel. are ships merchant its of number significant a purpose, this Malaccathe Strait-Andaman region. Sea in gunrunners of existence the confirmed further This LTTE. ernments’ cooperation to stop illegal smuggling of arms by the laitheevu. of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand to seek their Gov their seek to Thailand Vietnamand Cambodia, Laos, of the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister to undertake a dedicated tour The LTTE is majorly involved in drug trafficking. For trafficking. drug in involved majorly is LTTE The 6 The LTTE’s arms and ammunitions sup ammunitions and arms LTTE’s The TO SHORE TRANSPORT FOR OPERANDI MODUS incidents in the past. Sea areas off Mullaitoff areas Sea past. the in incidents such several been have There vessels. naval Navy, Lankan Sri vesselsraminto these the the by detection of event the In shore. to transported is cargo Thereafter, the Tigers. Sea armed by manned craft, laden plosive ex and vessels smaller these escort boats Gun boats/launches. smaller the of rival ar the for wait and shore the close come vessels the cargo, In their discharge sea. to order high the on operate that vessels larger onboard carried generally are plies insurgency. and drug smuggling to further finance their 30 Once known as the Arakan Army, this 32 The entire activityLTTE in 31
This necessitatedThis ------OCCASSIONAL PAPER leaders of the LTTE like Kittu are known for their familiar their for known are Kittu like LTTE the of leaders great accuracy. Velupillai Prabhakaran and otherthe founding navigatewith can they charts, nautical of absence the in Even Strait. Palk the geography of the with familiar are They skills. maritime great with seamen outstandingareTamil andNadu in communities fishing the from hail largely Tigers Sea The MARITIME STRATEGICTHINKINGOFTHELTTE Lankan Navy and the LTTE gunboats. Both sides have lost ves a state navy and not a signatory to the UN and next port of call. The navyLTTE is not tration and flag (nationality) including last board and inspect ships suspected to be in III Sea (UNCLOS III) only state navies can the UnitedofNations Law Convention on 1982 the to According legitimacy. no has LTTE the and integrity and sovereignty its of symbol the is Navy its that ground the on proposals these rejected ernment any, cannot accepted be terms. inlegal if flag, shipping LTTE the Besides, right. that claim cannot it therefore, and, CLOS regis name, its furnish and itself identify waters.tional Anyaskedto vesselbe could dulging in illegal activities even in interna Velvettiturai(VVT). of town coastal the from originated they as seas the with ity shipping. Lankanmilitary) be gov The Sri could it (or non-military its for LTTE the for lane sea a (c) and Navy; Lankan Sri the and LTTE the of vessels the between mile nautical one of distance a of nance mainte (b) (ROE); Engagement of Rules of set agreed an of blocking its sea-lanes. tionWaruna Kirana”, “Opera launchingwas offensive its attacks aimedat of part as navy, Lankan Sri the that complained had LTTE The SLMM. the from monitor a of absence the in civilian, or military vessel, LTTE any against force of use the againstembargoan andNavy Lankan Sri the forzone hibited far. so lives fifty than sion(SLMM) toprevent clashesthat athave sea claimedmore Mis Monitoring (Ceasefire) Lanka Sri Scandinavian-staffed made by Colonel Commander,Soosai, Tigers Sea Force, to the Tigers on par withNavy. SriLankan the Sea the of recognition formal a seeking LTTE the in resulted have LTTE the “achievements”of the dynamics, conflict ing its force to the high-speed gunboats of the LTTE.ensu the gunboatsof Inthe high-speed forceits the to of half about lost has Navy Lankan Sri the particular In sels. n sec, h aoe rpsl mle: a formulation (a) implies: proposal above the essence, In wasproposals) three of scheme (a effect this toproposal A 33
VVT has traditionally been the hub of hub the been traditionally has VVT The other two proposals include a pro a include proposals two other The - - - - - was usedfortransportation in Malta,Honduras,Cyprus, a varietyofcargo.MVBaris Liberia, PanamaandNew different routesandcarry LTTEshipsareregistered of highexplosivesfrom Zealand. Theysailon 7 Ukraine totheLTTE. |www.orfonline.org |April200 ------held together by ofties kinship and caste. There werebe links community,cohesive its was attractions special its …Among LTTE activities. It argued has been that VVT: Quite clearly there was at this stage a confluence of the firepow fromall, Vadamaratchi, areathe is located. within which VVT capabilities and gain control over the Sri Lankan seas particu seas capabilities controlLankan gainand Sri over the maritime build to LTTE the for need the on stressed he and larlywatersin off Mullaittivu and Batticaloa.He reportedisto daredevil the Prabhakaran, Velupillai course. political their frequently to organise their cadres, plan their crimes and chart Tamil Lanka pioneersSri ofmet the that militancy mid-1970s the of VVT in was It movement. the of leaders the are yars Karai where one only the also but base, rank-and-file nated Vellalas. Thisgives onesome clues tothe caste base ofthe mili caste high the against own their hold to able well particularly were Karaiyars the where area an caste; fishing Karaiyar the ofaudacity the and smuggling forfamous harbour a ... centre mann-Rajanayagam as follows: Tamil militants and, indeed, towards entire the Vellala elite.” prominentother to leaders Tiger the by times later in shown defiance haughty the retrospect in understand to easy also is Itmilitants. the commitmentoffanatical and ruthlessness the and smugglers, VVT the of skills will-o’-the-wisp the and er Karaiyardomi mixed-caste a with groupsmilitant few the of one only not is LTTE the that said be can it and groups, tant itsbetween law enforcement officers and its criminals.” tolerance mutual of spirit a been usually has there that said is Ittradesmen. ordinary and folk, fisher smugglers, its tween “…in many ways, be regarded as the cradle of the LTTE. the of cradle the as regarded be ways, “…inmany This inherent strength was well realized by Prabhakaran realized well was strength inherent This Vlettri a sne ie meoil en fishing a been immemorial time since has “Velvettiturai VVT’s socio-economic milieu has been portrayed by Hellbyportrayed been has VVT’s milieu socio-economic 6 operations), were ofall the same caste, and successful international arms procurement highly his for known best Shanmugam, TharmalingamPadmanathan maran (alias Ku Sathasivam ‘KP’ and Kittu) (alias Krishnakumar Thangadurai, Balakumar, YogaratnamYogi,like others ManyVVT. KaraiyarLTTE,a the within also was from struggle power a of course the in 1994 in Prabhakaran by liquidated Mahattaya), (alias Mahendrarajah Gopalasamy sives. Navyconveying while of boatload a explo Lankan Sri the by apprehended been had 1973, as Kuttimani)back (alias far who,as ofVVT. Selvaduaraiwas YogachandranSo Karaiyar native a was credit, his to beries already with a few murders and bank rob bank murdersand few a with already ‘kid brother’ (thambi) among the pioneers, 34
35 ------to the dominance of sea. British naval mastery was a major fac led thatobjectiveBritish the Controlwas pointedoutSea that Power.He Sea of aspects defensive and offensive the inferred Mahan sought to explain sea power in its broadest context and Upon History 1660-1783, introduced the concept of power. sea oh omril n mltr proe. aa wrae ac warfare, Naval purposes. military and commercial both for sea the used effectively it unless powergreat a be aspireto means of cheap transport. His thesis was that no nation could that nations seek sea power as ‘a great highway’ that provides a argued and advantage national for oceans the use to country from our homeland.” able to retain the land areas we liberated and drive our enemies be will we that has, nowenemy the dominance the break and seas, the strongonare we when only Itis seas. its of that with have stated: direct theatres of conflict at sea. to trained is that force sea-commando dedicated a all, above and,capabilities riverine and waterbrownformidable its trol, deny it to other. the and oneself for open highway great the keep to as so oceans tive was to drive the enemy navy and mercantile marine off the cording to Mahan, was acontest for supremacyand objec the work, famous most his through Mahan, Navy. States United Mahan, Thayer Alfred Admiral Rear by question this to given answer the examine to portant im is it is, power sea what considering In optimum. its to sea the use to state a of ability the broadly as orinterventions distant‘navy’for asnarrowly as understood contexts.Itis ent of maritime their infrastructure. powerand it isquite evident by nature the of development the sea of understanding good a have does leadership the above, noted is what than other articulation an or evidence credible LTTEno leadership. the is ofthere Although mind the atesin its advantages of access to the sea, its quest to limited sea con itsquestitsadvantageslimited tosea sea, the toofaccess with well establishmentmaritime augured a very iswith actor among seas the leadership, political the and now anavy. maritimeship/boattrade, building yards, anunderstanding of fleet, fishing a ports/harbours, ships, geography,ocean-going i.e. power, sea a of attributes all has It power. sea non-state small a as graded be tocapacities capabilitiesand with dowed navy. powerful a possessed Britain wealth, this protect to trade: from derived wealth of products the are strength and greatness deduction: tor that allowed it to challenge its opponents. Itquiteapparentis powerreverber conceptsea of thatthe The term sea power implies different meanings in differ in meanings different implies power sea term The Given this understanding of sea power, the LTTE is well en The LTTE’s emergence as a formidable violent non-state violent a formidable as emergence LTTE’s The simple a developing Britain’sby explained success Mahan “Geographically,Tamilof security the 37 He described sea power as the ability of a of ability the as power sea described He 38 36
The
nune f e Power Sea of Influence is interlinkedis Eelam 8 |www.orfonline.org |April200 ------Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the sub the terrorist2001 Everattacks the 11, Septembersince of THE NEWMARITIMELANDSCAPEANDLTTE and MVLimburg incidents. prevent un-scanned and unchecked shipping to containers arriv aims CSI The sea. the from be to likely is soil US on tack capacity to fight maritime threats. to co-opt regional navies to build and coordinate international plans also are There area. the in trafficking human and gling ships and land based transport) are considered as the most im (aircraft, transportation for venience’.vehicles of Interdiction con of ‘flag a under operating when or flag nation member PSI flying ships search and board rights, flight over deny can countries member Initiative, the Under airspace. national or waters members’ territorial PSI in aircraft and ships of search (CSI). Initiative Security Container and (RMSI) Initiative Security Maritime Regional (PSI), Initiative Security Proliferation the are initiatives maritime The preemption. and defence ventive proactivemaritimeinitiatives accentoninterdictionwith pre new of creation the necessitated has It matrix. security time USS the like attacks boat suicide to attacksbio/chemical nuclear/from rangingworld, 9/11 post the in threats of array to comprehensivemeasures stringentandadoptmust they that fact the ofconscious main re they time same the at but commerce of flow the in down slowing potential a in resulting growth economic impede to At the same time, states are careful not to impose such security security issues as first priority in any development programme. placing are countries more and more that is result The levels. all at seriously more with dealt being now is and prominent more become has itnew, not is security on focus Whilst life. day-to-day in factor ubiquitous a become has security of ject hp n Pr Fclt Scrt (SS Cd ad Automatic and Code (ISPS) Security Facility Port International and Ship the community maritime the upon imposed ports. containerstowardsheadingvessels onthe loading prior toUS clearing and scanning for ports non-CSI at officials Customs US position to provision a also is There US. the to shipment to priornon-intrusivemeans,preferablyand technological by scanned,containers CSI The requiresall be ports. atingto US smug narcotics gunrunning, piracy,proliferation, terrorism, combat to Strait Malacca the in boats high-speed on troops plans for the a prominence over more traditional nonproliferation efforts. portant means to counter proliferation thus giving interdiction The post 9/11 security environment has cast a new new a cast has environment security 9/11 post The The CSI has its genesis in the the CSI has The appreciationgenesisits in that next the at and detention, interdiction, at pre-emptive aims PSI The The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) too has too (IMO) Organisation Maritime International The envisionsthat initiative Navy States United a is RMSI The 6 US military US tomilitary deploy Marines and Special Forces secure and defend against a new new a against defend and secure mari Cole ------
OCCASSIONAL PAPER h LT’ piay rea hs en ih ad ml weap small and light been has arsenal primary LTTE’s The LTTE SHIPPINGANDTHEPSI inter an within threats security against deterrence develop and detection enable to 2002 December in adopted was code ISPS The requirements. carriage (AIS) System Identification interest in acquiring the capability to use Weapons of show Mass now De groups terrorist some that fact a is It stealth. and asymmetry agility, of terms in capabilities fighting its of stay main the been has weapons small and light on reliance The ons that are easily available inlarge quantities inrelative costs. maritime activities. and trade its for traffic maritime illegitimate and legitimate on relies it as LTTE the for implications major has certainly This commerce. of flow the in down slowing and inspection andcurity are concerned over movement the of contraband. international the aboutLTTEleadership the amongconcerngrowing a is there that doubt no is There ships. of fleet its using domain itime andhuman smugglingout maractivitiesare carried the in all drug Tigers, the the of infrastructure entiremilitary the sides, Be LTTE. the economyof the of cord umbilical the as serves that activity maritime its restraining not manner,yet hensive compre a in Initiatives these counter and address to how be matically. code by July 2004. TheCode establishes roles and responsibili new the with comply to have Countries framework. national across international boundaries that states have increased se increased have states that boundaries internationalacross cargo of transportation the with associated all to clear quite andvigilance an enhanced scrutiny of commerce. the It is also and interdict. a terrorist group is indeed quite complex and difficult to detect nuclear weapons. Thepossession and deployment of WMD by such(WMD) chemical,as biological, struction orradiological authoritiesauto coastal to channelsand radio VHF common authoritiesshoreon and ships other all to datavoyagerelated and data static ground,over ship’s speed course, position,ID, world. The systemcapable is of providing information about a and ensure training andare drills conducted. plans, security port and vessel alarms, raise to meansprovide etc. weapons, unauthorized of introduction prevent access, restrict protocolscommunication maintain information, sess in place. It requires ship and port facility staff to gather and as aremeasures security adequatethatensures and security port and ship both assessing for methodology a providing besides information security of exchange and collection enables ties, These initiatives inevitably lead to a need for increased need a to lead inevitably initiatives These therefore would LTTE the before challenge daunting The The AIS is meant for the safety of all vessels around the around all vessels of thesafety for is meant AIS The euiy eurmns ht al o greater for call that requirements security 9 |www.orfonline.org |April200 ------organisations in a desperate move to achieve their political ob terrorist by use its and acquisition possible global the over a concern been has there then since and WMD use to resort terrorist of scope and nature the of benchmark the been has Initiative. The genesis of PSI is inthe led US this joined have that countries sixty least at are there the propagated has pre-emptive interdiction, detention, and search of ships sus ships of search and detention, interdiction, pre-emptive atinitiativeaims nonproliferation the noted,tional As efforts. tradi more over prominence a interdiction giving thus tion counterimportantproliferato meansmost the consideredas are transport) based land and ships (aircraft, transportation gies have listed.been Among these, interdiction of vehicles for 1,000 or more. of casualties human fatal cause to unconventionalmanneran in instruments or weapons conventional use to threat or of use and panic; mass cause to order in station power nuclear a as such installation an capture to threat or of capture tion; disrup economic mass cause to hacking or computervirus a as such disruption mass of weapon a use to threat or of use WMD; a use tofollowing components:threator Use the ofof more or one has terrorism WMD that experts ter-terrorism war. technology low of ments require terrorist suits it experts, to According terrorists. the to linked was US the in scare anthrax 9-11 Similarly,post the attack.chemical developinga dollars of millions of tens spent tion. Reportedly, the group used highly skilled technicians and destruc mass of weapons use to capability the demonstrated Tokyo the agentin chemical a groupkyoreleased subway and weapons. nuclear and radiological build to capability the demonstrated have states nation only Todate,daunting. are dispersion and handling of aspects important but nature in acquired be can agentsSimilarly, so.biological doing in nation succeeded have states only that reason this for is It difficult. be may poses weapons to cause mass casualties. andsuchacquireability possess tions use the totoare seeking tion. ment, jective. pur weapon for quantities large by,getting come to easy are ity to and possess capability to cannot use underestimated. be terials present significant technical challenges to LTTE, its abil weapons but it is widely believed that most terroristorganisamostthat believed widely is weaponsitbut In order to counter the threat of WMD terrorism, the US the terrorism, WMD of threat the counter to order In But the threat is far from rare. In 1995, the Aum Shinri Aum the 1995, In rare. from far is threat the But Although, development of these kinds of weapons and ma There is growing convergence growing professionalamongst coun is There and markets open from procured be can chemicals While It is also difficult to predict the likelihood of use of such of use of likelihood the predict to difficult also is It Understrategy this National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruc 6 40 Today Initiative. Security Proliferation
various ‘counter-proliferation’various strate 39 The Aum Shinrikyo incident Shinrikyo Aum The December 2002 US docu ------of explosives (TNT) and 8,000 detonators for a company In company a for detonators 8,000 and (TNT) explosives of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific was 680 carrying tons Greek territorial waters and the earlier seizure of seizure earlier the andwaters territorial Greek of transportingpected weapons of mass destruction. These These are: categorized. be can organisations terrorist different which in 600 miles off the Horn of Africa in the In the in Africa ofHorn the off miles 600 ● ● fit case for being a pirateship a being for case fit a therefore and it on marks identifying no had but flag, Cambodian the under sailed of WMDs, has WMDs or has even expressed a desire to ac to desire a expressed even has or WMDs has WMDs, of proliferation in engaged is LTTE the that in Taiwan. confiscated was Korea North for destined precursor nerve-agent a Similarly, Libya. uranium enrichment equipment bound for ship the of seizure the to relates case teresting to ing Accord Yemen. for missiles Scud fifteen transporting was vessel The Ocean. dian cidentally, Sudan is on a US blacklist of na seized sources US from information on acting that Osama bin here. laden took sanctuary terrorist-related activities. It is also believed tions that support terrorism and is home to for Libya are clear manifestations of PSI. the bound equipment enrichment uranium carrying reportedly missiles to Yemen) and the seizure of the ship KoreanNorth (carrying forces Spanish by 2002 December in WMD threatsWMD emanate.could which from organisations identify to need a is there rorism, ter on expert noted a Raman, B. to According dismissed. be cannotintentions such that argued been has it WMDs, quire ship’s master and its five-crew members were charged with pos The Sudan.Development,andKhartoum, Chemicals tegrated international law to seize such vessels. In vessels. such seize to law international against was it andlegitimate was cargo the that announced and respond to quick was explosives.Sudantransporting and sessing
Thosewhich advocate or are likely to use WMD, but do not categorythis far. so capability.required the organisationin terroristNofigures have already and WMD of use the advocate which Those Although there is no credible evidence evidence credible no is there Although n eebr 02 a pns frigate, Spanish a 2002, December In The The seizure of seizure The . The vessel was carrying carrying was vessel The China. BBC
So So San, a North Korean vessel, about owned by Alpha Shipping and registered in registeredShippingand Alpha by owned SkyBaltic pi’ Dfne Ministry, Defense Spain’s V M y re cmads in commandos Greek by Sky Baltic . Another in Another . 41 Raman has offered a typology offeredhasRaman typology a S S o an - - - - -
The gunrunningoperations there bylandpastBangkok northern endoftheGulf M V ChinaBBC Thailand suchasSattahip coast toThaiportsatthe Kong, movingalongthe Sea coast,mostnotably on Thailand’sAndaman Sihanoukville andKoh and southtotheports and Rayongfrom 10 Ranong andPhuket. M V M Cambodian portsof originate fromthe |www.orfonline.org |April200 So San So - - - -
● ● not become a pathway for terrorists to enter the country. As country. the enter to terrorists forpathway a become not ensurethat do antecedents.vessels to foris checkedtheir This by not allowing now the crew will to they disembarkbe freely; crew the regards as initiatives stringent more taken has part, its information electronically.on the US, The send to ship the instruct to required is agent The passengers. including list, crew the manifestandcargo call, of port next call, of port last the verify to authorities security port allow to arrival before The shipswill have to informtheir port ofcall at least 96 hours officer. These plans shouldconform to international standards. security a and plan security a with sail to ship every requires things, other among rulebook, new The code. (ISPS) Security
this category.this in come it to allied organisations jihadi other andQaeda Al it. acquire to trying are and capability the have yet as trying to acquire a capability. The majority of the terrorist the of majority capability.The a acquire to trying are nor WMD of use the neither advocate which Those, it with a strong acid for creating fumes or vapours, for caus mixing by used, be could it purposes, suicide for acquired was cyanide the un-estimated Though cyanide. its potassium of of stockpile because category this in fall would of Eelam Tigers Liberation Tamil The use. its advocatenot whichThose already have asort of WMDcapability, but do ing mass panic, ifnot mass casualty. 6 organisations of the world fall in this cat this in fall world the of organisations The IMO has now announced a new re new a announced now has IMO The LTTE SHIPPINGANDISPSCODE gime: International Ship and Port Facility Port and Ship International gime: of suicide cadres. acquired in the 1990s, to facilitate the entry had WestCanada in andEurope cadres its that a capability aircraft, microlight used have may LTTE the Raman, B. to cording plane was also destroyed in the fighting, re liners and a cargo plane. An Antonov cargo air Airline Lankan Sri empty three craft, air military eightdestroyed and Colombo Katunayake, in Base Force Air Lankan Sri US. On July 24, 2001 the LTTE attacked the mainland onattack Qaeda al involving the incidents 9/11 the before much struction de mass out carry to capability its hibited egory. ih o ihs aig ff r adn. Ac landing. or off taking flights no with closed was airport international Colombo portedly by a rocket propelled grenade. The n h cnet f h LT, t a ex has it LTTE, the of context the In 42
43
------OCCASSIONAL PAPER IMB also believes that at times the issuing authorities them authorities issuing the times at that believes also IMB The ships. man certificates competency and passports false with Crewmen situation. the of gravity the highlight figures Harkat-ul-Ansar] from Pakistan was transported to the south donated by the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen [(HUM) then known as of the crew. the of authenticity the identity the ofimpossible verify to virtually is embassy or consulate. US a from visa individual an obtain to seafarer each requires now and visas, list crew of use its terminated US the result, a issued a warningshiptoissueda operators aboutthousands the of un has IMB The documentation. mariner issuedimproperly and Aceh Movement(GAM). Aceh groupscal like the Abu Sayyaf and the Free and internationally accepted mariners doc legitimateofpossession in be not mayalso They personnel. 125 least at be may they that conclude to fair be would it but tions ship crew. These states are home to radi to home are states These crew. ship merchant of suppliers largest the are that Indonesia and Philippines the from crew hiring by operations fleet its augmenting accepted seafarers document are suspect. legitimate sailors holding an internationally as credentials Therefore,their umentation. availability of seafarers, it will still be possible for the LTTEto forthe possible be still availabilitywill seafarers,itof the operations of the LTTE but given the network and the easy Front (IIF) comefounding-membera of bin Laden’s International Islamic countries. other of organisations terrorist of disposal the at capability its place to willingness itsexpressed LTTE had the thatstance opera sea ocean/high open undertaking ofcapable LTTEcadres the of strength the determine to available data authentic no is There cadres. own its of mostly consists tion by authorities. port the competency.of certificates reportedwastohave Rico Puerto issuednearly suspicious500 in office Guard Coast the instance, For blame. to are selves and has called for tighter security by authorities issuing certifi papers, andmastersfalse crewwith working qualified illegally ern Philippines either for the Abu Sayyaf which has since be since has which SayyafAbu the for eitherPhilippines ern reported. were competency of certificates forged of 54 maritime administrations surveyed, more than 12,000 cases that of showing statistics of release the follows alert The cates. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), it (IMB), BureauInternationalMaritime the toAccording It is also possible that the LTTE maythe thatbe possible Italso is The new ISPScode isbound to placecertain restrictions on As regards the LTTE, its shipping crew shippingits LTTE, the regards As 48 or Moro the Islamic Liberation Front. 44 Inconsignment a 1995, of arms and ammunition Besides, there is a majora problemisthere counterfeitofBesides, 47 46 There is at least one reported in reported one least at is There Such cases usually escape detec escape usually cases Such - - - the developmentoftheir the conceptofseapower reverberates inthemind maritime infrastructure. evident bythenatureof It isquiteapparentthat which doeshaveagood of theLTTEleadership, 11 understanding ofsea power. Thisisquite |www.orfonline.org |April200 45 These These ------Shoshin LTTEtankercontinue oilthe operations. June2003 its On 14, The LTTE is known to change the name of its ships very fre very ships its of name the change to known is The LTTE LTTE SHIPPINGANDFLAGOFCONVENIENCE Navy had no authority to open fire. The Sri Lankan Sri The fire. open to authority no had Navy warned of “grave consequences” and noted that the Sri Lankan os ol fis cnat h Lbra Rgsr t determine to Registry Liberian the contact first would tors transporting weapons of mass destruction. for used boarded/ being vessels their againstcomfort of sense a Liberia in registered ship-owners give would and initiative the agreement with the US to support the PSI is a constructive notedthathasInternational rian ShipRegistry Corporateand ce paddy, rice, timber,fertilizer, as such cargo general move legitimacy to their fleet as also to generate revenue, LTTE ships give Turkey.to toMyanmar order from In narcotics ship sels ves LTTE instance, For trade. maritime in engaged are that ships of flotilla a have LTTE the that fact well-known a activities. is It illegal in engaging when scheme) paint and tion registra (name, ship the of identity the change to known is shipping international because surprising not is quently.This war, which has for plagued country the two decades. ethnic the to back go might rebels the that fears dispel to bid a in clash sea this of consequences the downplayed has ment the transport or transfer of items of proliferation. The Libe The proliferation. of items of transfer or transport the for flag its under operating vessels of use the allow not would proliferators to Liberia thatstrongsignal a send tomeant was agreement The PSI. the of support in agreement interdiction ship a signed Liberia and US the 2004 11, February On tions. Underagreement,counter US the the proliferation inspec blew up and sank. In response the Tamil the responseIn rebels Tigersank. and up blew , 6 registry. Lloyds lists 11 merchant ships be merchantships 11 listsregistry. Lloyds and names changing keep they as of track and New too. Zealand Malta Greece, Cyprus, from registry host Liberia. and Honduras Panama, i.e. “pan-ho-lib” as known countries FOC in registered are ma is home to the largest shipping registra lars). dol million a half for Colombo in wanted is who businessman (a Pathmanathan ran Kuma elusive the by managed are fact in longing to some Asian front companies but cargo. dry othermentand It is evident that Liberia, along with Pana with along Liberia, that evident is It able to convince toLiberia support the PSI. regardin been hasPSI thatUS is the tothe The LTTE ships are difficult to keep difficult are ships LTTE The In yet another significant development significant another yet In 51
50 The LTTE’s ships are known to known are LTTE’s ships The 49 Most of these Mostthese of govern ------decisionsmade“onwould be basis.”case-by-case a ButLi the andconsent priorwithout boarding vesselauthorize not does whether to board a particular vessel. The Agreement, however, countries that are known to offer FOC registry. thirty are there FOC, against campaigningworkers dock and seafarers of union a Committee, Practices Fair (ITF) eration nya and Tanzania. Ke in embassies US the destroyed later weeks who bombers suicide the for Kenya in supplies unloaded freighters cargo Laden’s bin of one Reportedly, Africa. East in embassies US Wahid is sought in connection with the 1998 bombings of two Hage, anoperative, Qaeda Al sought to buy a merchant vessel. Wahid al when translator a as acting admitted had Germany scrutiny.shipbrokerofficialin A little with recruits and drugs arms, goods, transport vessels, of ownership the hide to him allows convenience, of flags of variety a flying fleet, shipping Osama’sthat suggest secret Reports Man. of Isle the and ama Pan Liberia, in registry FOC possess to suspected are vessels These passage. ocean undertaking of capable are that vessels tivesare knownowntoor have chartered merchantat20 least technology. Panama and Liberia accrue tremendous advantag suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction or weapons ment on May 12,2004with USto the permitsearch of vessels is gettingLiberia safeguard at no cost from USNavy. the that believe Registry Corporate Internationaland Ship berian wanted terrorist’ Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda opera Qaeda Al the and Laden bin Osama terrorist’ wanted world’s ‘most The flags. FOC flying ships on crews among nesting terrorists of possibility the from arise registry (FOC) tons of capacity, or about cent 8per of world the tanker fleet. deadweight- million 24.8 for accountnations three these and registries their deadweight-tonsin 10,000 than bigger tankers have Latvia and Malta Cyprus, only members, new 10 the Of EuropeanUnion. the to 2004 Mayon1, added weremembers seizure. There was much more waiting to happenwhen 10 new and search to subject now shippingis commercial of cent per 50 State,almost of UnderSecretary US the Bolton, R. Johnto According misused. being not are flag their under ships that havens, tax notnationsmaritimeand Panama andserious are importantly the assurance to the shipping industry that Liberia es by the agreement in terms of status of and the registry more agree an signed world, the in nation any than ships) chant running, drug smuggling, cargo transportingdrug running, illegal or human gun involving activities in engaging when or authorities by crackdowna of sign first the at registry switchto tendowners ship and practice common a hoppingis flag experts, industry codn t te nentoa Tasot Worker’s Fed Transport International the to According Likewise, Panama, which registers more ships (13,000 mer The international concerns about ‘Flag Of Of Convenience’ ‘Flag about concerns international The 52 According to 12 |www.orfonline.org |April200 ------maritime infrastructure. It has also sharpened its skills at mari Withpassage ofLTTEthe time,the hasbuilt up animpressive CONCLUSION beings. time interests.time LTTE’smari defending of capable navy a develop also must shipisconvinced that and maritime it infrastructureiscrucial causefor political separatea communication and, more importantly, in helping leverage the transport, of medium a are seas the that realisation strategic a with vision and capacity tremendous has Itforce. maritime as itsthat umbilical cord. serve materials and finances of flow its of down slowing a prevent andhuman drug smuggling.Itsuitablebuild responses will to the LTTE so as not to impede its maritime trade, gun-running, by chosen carefully be therefore will security requirementsof The fleet. its steering for crewreliable and ships itshavens for safesuppliers, of network its on rely will Itoperations. covert itsmaritimeenterpriseofitsof security ensurethatwould the probingbe demanding.The would strategiesfor indeed LTTE is LTTE the before task the but baffling somewhat and plex com is community maritime and states upon imposed ing mour piercing weapons. ar even and speedboats explosive-laden grenades, propelled rocket- used have LTTE boats. high-speed and submarines mini submersibles, devices, explosive improvised to knives from weapons of variety a use to known inventories. are They their of part equipmentare diving scuba and sport water and systems, communication satellite GPS, as such technologies use Dual attackatandharbourtosea. ity enemy in ships both of its ships operate under flags of convenience. the LTTE today is how it before does manage its offleet ships when most question The ships. FOC with occur commonly not does that internationalpractice shippingtain standards,a forces. maritimestrategiesof counter haveadapted the tothemselves and technologies changing the with pace kept have networks Navy.The Lankan Sri the of face the in interest of area its in points landing to cargo and materials of ferrying and sailing involve These practices.trade, coastal time ocean undertaking would increase accountability and force ship owners to main toowners accountabilityforceshipand increase would practice this that believe They flag. its and vessel the between ial, t s vdn ta te TE s mjr non-state major a is LTTE the that evident is it Finally, be matrix security maritime 9/11 post new the Although Besides, the Sea Tigers have also sharpened their capabil their sharpened also have Tigers Sea the Besides, 53 The ITF believes that there should be a genuine link link genuine a be should there that believes ITF The 6 forEelamTamils. the leader The ------OCCASSIONAL PAPER 7 LM eemnto: TE ecat hp uk y r Lna Navy. Lanka Sri by sunk ship Merchant LTTE Determination: 17. SLMM 16. SLMM Report: The Sea Incident on the 14th of June 2003, available at available 2003, June of 14th the on Incident Sea 16. The Report: SLMM 15. Gunaratna, n.7.AlsoseePeiris,3.,p.112. 14. Ibid. 13. Ibid. RC in, Vairamuthu S/o Jayachandra Vairamuthu of Statement 12. TADA Abdul in Lanka’, Sri in Insurgency Tiger Tamil ‘The Chalk, 10. Peter Terrorism’, Maritime From Threat Asymmetric ‘The Gunaratna, Rohan 9. Ibid. 8. http://www.india-today. < at available Report, Commision Jain The 7. Peiris,n.4. 6. of Journal Conflict’, Lankan Sri of Aspects ‘Maritime Bhardwaj, Atul 5. KPS (ed.) in Lanka’, Sri in Terrorism and War ‘Secessionist Peiris, H. G. 4. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 2. Prime to wrote Jayewardene J.R. President 1985 3, October On 1. 11. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Jane’s World Insurgency And Insurgency World Jane’s (LTTE), Eelam Tamil of 11. Tigers Liberation 8 oa Gnrta ‘sa aic Ognsd rm & International & Crime Organised Pacific: ‘Asia Gunaratna, 18. Rohan Available at < at Available Books, 2002),p.260. 9 < 1/(S)/93/CBI/VSP (MVAhatcase)on16.3.93. Terrorism, December10,2004.
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