Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he introduced a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that calls for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to produce a report in three months on ways to strengthen the international legal system to make sure there is no impunity for pirates who are caught.

Russia announced the initiative a day after Dutch marines rescued a hijacked German container ship from Somali pirates, and two days after a South Korean-operated supertanker sailing from Iraq to the United States reported that it had been boarded by three pirates southeast of the Gulf of Aden.

“The piracy industry is growing and it is becoming a major headache for the international community,” Churkin said. “We feel that one of the weak links ... is the legal process that will allow us to be sure that there is no impunity once pirates are caught off the coast of Somalia.” As the rule of law crumbled in Somalia, organized criminal gangs ramped up the lucrative business of boarding ships in the Gulf of Aden or the Indian Ocean - one of the world's busiest sea lanes - and holding them, their crews and cargos for ransoms.

NATO, the European Union, Russia, the United States, India, China and other nations have sent ships to fight the pirates.

But the London-based International Maritime Bureau says Somali pirates captured 47 vessels last year and launched 217 attacks. More than 100 crew are still being held.

The Security Council has imposed sanctions on pirates and authorized countries to pursue them in Somalia's territorial waters, using “all necessary means to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea.” In a resolution adopted in late November, the council urged all states “with relevant jurisdiction under international law and national legislation, to cooperate in determining jurisdiction and in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for acts of piracy.”

It also asked all states and regional organizations fighting piracy “to conclude special agreements or arrangements with countries willing to take custody of pirates.” Churkin expressed appreciation for the efforts of some regional countries, including Kenya and the Seychelles, in offering to prosecute pirates “but we understand that they're under pressure and they're encountering problems in this regard.” He expressed concern that some detained pirates were being freed because there was no place to prosecute them.

As one example, the Dutch government on Dec. 18 released 13 Somali pirates it detained nearly two weeks earlier after the European Union failed to find a country willing to prosecute them. Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop said he regretted that neither Kenya nor Tanzania was prepared to take the men despite requests from the EU.

Churkin said the so-called Contact Group on Somalia, comprising neighbors and other interested countries, has been discussing various legal options but Russia believed the secretary-general should present options and the council needs to be involved.

“There is an option of creating a special chamber in one of the courts in one of the regional countries,” Churkin said. “There are other possibilities as well so we think that it would be useful to have them all put together maybe with some recommendations in the report of the secretary-general.” Japan's UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu, the current council president, told reporters after Churkin presented the draft to the 14 other council members that “the initial reaction was a very positive one, generally speaking.” But at the same time, he said, several council member said piracy can't be isolated from the root causes of the situation on the ground in Somalia and the Russian proposal shouldn't overlap with what the Contact Group is doing.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords overthrew a longtime dictator and then turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos and anarchy.

A transitional government was established in 2004 but only controls a few blocks in Mogadishu and is dependent on the 5,100-strong African Union peacekeeping force. Islamic insurgents control much of the capital and have been trying to topple the fragile government for three years.