British Government's Piracy Ruling Highlights Extreme Security

• Get updates on trade, Customs and regulatory changes
• Stay informed on trade compliance seminars,
  workshops and industry events

x

Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association Dec 09, 2011

The British Government's endorsement of the use of armed guards on merchant vessels is another step towards the routine arming of ships passing through the Red Sea and Indian Ocean reports Transport Intelligence. The minister responsible for a policy which is effectively regulating the arming of cargo ships commented that "by allowing the use of armed guards in a structured, legal framework we can move to a system where ship owners can provide an adequate deterrent against this scourge on the maritime industry".

Nations with large ship owning and operating businesses have been pressured into accepting the concept of armed guards, but so far the achievements of this approach have been modest. For in a world of flags of convenience, individual countries' policies are not decisive. However, bearing in-mind that British security companies are likely to be prominent in the provision of heavily armed former soldiers to shipping lines, the signal from the British Government is important.

Piracy off the coast of the Horn of Africa has been continuing for several years with not a great deal of sustained attention. However, the problem is a significant hazard to transport on one of the core global transport routes. Certainly at the beginning of this year it appeared to be escalating, although since then action by various navies has suppressed activity, with a recent report by the International Maritime Bureau suggesting a fall in the number of attacks.

Yet the problem has not gone away. What shipping companies are confronted with is a need to adopt quite aggressive systems to manage an extreme threat to their business. This is not unique. The express parcel sector is also confronted with similarly extreme issues in regard to the smuggling of bombs onto aircraft, as UPS found out last year with the attempted bomb attack launched from Yemen. There is a difference however. In the case of armed guards on ships, it is conceivable that the guards will start shooting the pirates. Issues of security against extreme threats are becoming a feature of large parts of the logistics sector. Managing such problems is likely to be a semi-permanent feature of many large and medium sized logistics service providers' processes. Get it wrong and the results might be catastrophic for the company and its employees