The single largest supplier of maritime labor -- the Philippines -- announced yesterday that it will forbid its seafarers from passing through the Gulf of Aden, where pirates already hold over a hundred Filipinos hostage. The government's decision is the first such national ban on the waterway since the piracy epidemic broke out mid last year.
What it will mean for maritime labor and shipping routes is yet to be seen. Many companies may evade the rules, simply by offering enticing benefits and pay to seafarers who are willing to take the risky Somali-proximate path. It's not likely this will cause a large number of ships to divert around the Cape of Africa unless insurance premiums and ransoms go up hard and fast.
So is the Philippines over-reacting? In statistical terms -- yes. Given the number of ships passing through the region, the number of Filipino crew employed on vessels worldwide, and the timespan in which pirates have been active, the Filipino toll is not too high.
But in real public diplomacy terms, the decision is no surprise. The release of a five-months-held Filipino crew today illustrates the emotional toll that the piracy has had on the Phillipines' sea-faring psyche.
And it's just further evidence that this is actually one big, messy, hostage crisis.
JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images
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