“We are breaking new ground here,” Otto said. “We mainly have foreign companies that operate in international waters.” The German government estimates that British and US companies in particular could apply for a license.
This is interesting and I really liked the quote up top. To have a German ‘Letter of Marque’ or a license would be pretty cool. Although on the down side, I did not like the limitations that the Germans were putting on weapons use.
Weapons for the private ship protectors will have to be registered separately. The law stipulates that no heavy military weapons can be employed. Semi-automatic weapons, though, could be permitted.
So the pirates can operate heavy military weapons for attacks, but armed security defending these boats are not allowed too have them? And what exactly is the German definition of ‘heavy military weapons’?
The other point that was kind of interesting is the license fees and process.
The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) will most likely be the office in charge of the procedure. It will be able to call in the Federal Police for consultation. Security firms will have to pay between 8,000 euros ($9,800) and 16,000 euros for the licenses, which will be valid for two years.
This is peculiar to me and I was wondering how the fee schedule works? Do you pay less for a license if you are only defending small vessels, or what? Or do you pay more if you are a foreign security company versus a national one? We will see…
The last part of this article also mentioned some key statistics. Like ‘German shipping companies operate the third largest merchant fleet in the world’! Specifically, they mentioned these numbers.
German shipping companies operate the third largest merchant fleet in the world. However, only a small proportion flies under the German flag. The country’s black-red-gold flag only flies on 492 ships. This makes the vessels German territory. Criminal offences on board, for example, are tried before German courts.
On the other hand, 3,161 ships operated by German shipping companies sail under foreign flags. Shipowners, unions and the government are aiming to bring a total of 600 ships under the German flag. But to date, this goal has shown little success.
492 ships flying the flag of Germany is a significant number of vessels to protect under this scheme. No telling how many of them transit through dangerous waters. But increasing that to 600 ships will only increase the odds of more work for security firms. Not to mention the 3,161 vessels out there operated by German shipping companies. Perhaps these security measures will bring more vessels back under their flag? –Matt
Germany plans to regulate anti-piracy security firms
July 19, 2012
Sea piracy off the coast of Somalia has dropped dramatically, in part as the result of private security forces accompanying the ships. The German government now wants to regulate their certification.
The German Cabinet has agreed on legislation to introduce a licensing procedure for security companies on board ships. The draft bill determines which requirements these firms have to fulfill if they are protecting German-registered vessels. The government coordinator for the maritime industry, Hans-Joachim Otto, welcomed the decision.