Anyone that has followed the legal show in South Africa towards private security should take note of this one. I was sickened by SA’s treatment of the brave contractors that went to Iraq or Afghanistan. Men were killed and wounded in these wars, and the professionalism and dedication they presented was awesome. They should have been celebrated for their service, and not demonized.
With that said, I think this latest news about SA re-evaluating the value of such men is good news. These veterans in SA would do a fantastic job of defending merchant ships. Not only that, but SA is strategically situated on the continent to take advantage of this market.
From providing floating armories to providing training, SA is in a position to certainly be of value to the industry. So I hope they do work out the legalities and allow armed guards on boats. We will see…
Another point I wanted make with this post, is the Enrica Lexie incident, where Italian Marines posted on this merchant vessel shot and killed some innocent fishermen thinking they were pirates. It has caused quite the stir between India and Italy.
What I wanted to point out was that this was a military detail, and not a private security force. With military details, a ship’s captain really has no say so on what they do–they are military, following the orders of their command. With PSC’s, a ship’s captain calls the shots, and if that PSC doesn’t like it, the ship owners contract the services of another PSC. That is one of the key advantages with private versus public.
Also, Admiral Nirmal Verma conveniently removes this distinction in his commentary about this incident. That he forgot to mention that this was a ‘military detail’ that did this, and not a PSC.
With that said, eventually a PSC will have an accident. It is bound to happen and when it does, you will certainly see the opposition to private security on vessels use this as a reason why we should not have armed guards on boats. It is the typical knee-jerk reaction of such incidents, and we need to get prepared for it.
This is the floating iceberg of maritime security, and I think it would be prudent for groups like SAMI or BIMCO to have a discussion about how this can be best mitigated. I think all ship owners are watching the Enrica Lexie incident and thinking, what would happen if my guards shot and killed some innocent fishermen in a similar horrible mistake? What is the plan? Or do you just operate on ‘hope and prayers’ that it won’t happen…..?
Of course everyone is working on ensuring this does not happen. Standards and codes of conduct are being produced and signed by folks all over the world. But what is important to note is that we are still humans. We make mistakes and things can go wrong, despite all of the training and all of the rules/laws. So there should be consideration by all parties as to how best to deal with this reality. Talk with the lawyers, talk with those who have suffered such consequences, and learn from these nightmare scenarios on how best to navigate them. Be prepared as they say….-Matt
SA ponders armed guards aboard merchant ships
By Dean Wingrin
Thursday, 12 April 2012
South Africa has been asked to grapple with the question of how to deal with armed guards aboard civilian ships at sea.
In her keynote address at the opening of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in Cape Town yesterday, Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, stated that a number of European countries had approached South Africa with the request that South Africa assist the armed guards that provide anti-piracy protection aboard merchant ships off the east coast of Africa.
“We would like to be advised by yourselves on the ethics and viability of this,” Sisulu asked the Symposium.
Speaking to reporters after her address, Sisulu said that the world was turning to providing onboard security to protect their vessels against piracy. As a result, South Africa was required to grapple with this issue and give it the go-ahead.
“But,” Sisulu continued, “there is a need for us in the South African context that we may be required to allow replenishment for those people who provide security onboard the ships. Now I do know that there is an ethical matter, on whether or not (civilian) ships (can) carry armed people.“
Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Johannes Mudimu said that, at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) anti-piracy meeting in February, it was noted that the issue of armed guards aboard merchant ships was on the agenda of many navies and some countries were considering putting Marines onboard civilian ships.
In terms of International Maritime Organization regulations, Mudimu said that commercial vessels are not allowed to have armed guards at sea. But, with the increase in piracy and armed robbery at sea, armed guards are one of the options many countries are considering.
Mudimu also discussed setting up floating armouries around a dozen nautical miles offshore so that merchant vessels carrying weapons for security details could drop off and collect weapons without bringing them into port.
“This is an international trend,” Sisulu noted, “and this is the way most countries are opting to protect their merchant vessels, to have onboard security, but we have not yet taken that decision.”
Evidence shows that vessels with armed guards are less likely to be successfully attacked, and no vessel with armed guards has ever been hijacked. This is why a growing number of nations have been approving the use of armed guards aboard ships. In November last year the UK published rules regulating the carriage of armed guards on British merchant ships sailing off the coast of Somalia, after a significant increase in the number of attacks against vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. The United States also reversed their opposition to having armed guards on merchant ships.
While many are clamouring for armed protection aboard merchant vessels, Admiral Nirmal Verma, Chief of the Indian Navy, sounded a warning. He is concerned that armed guards may undertake some form of inadvertent action, resulting in harm to others, such as innocent fishermen.
Having expressed his reservations at an international naval conference last year, his fears were realised a few months later when a ship transiting Indian waters mistook an old fishing boat for a pirate skiff.
Verma explained that the armed guards “assessed it to be a pirate skiff and it was not the case, it was just a poor fishing vessel. They opened fire and in the process, two innocent lives were lost. I’m sure we will discuss these matters with respect to the carriage of armed guards, but we need to look at the practices we employ, we cannot have the situation were innocent fishermen get killed because of misidentification.”
The International Chamber of Shipping, which represents over 80 percent of the world’s merchant fleet, said that arming guards was likely to be effective in deterring pirates for now, but was not a long-term solution. “Whilst we welcome it, it is a short-term palliative measure,” ICS secretary general Peter Hinchliffe told Reuters.
Sisulu clarified that South Africa has a maritime strategy that allows its waters to be protected, but they have to answer the growing number of requests from countries to have onboard security.
“This is what the symposium will be giving answers to. Because if we’re going that way, it will require a drastic restructuring of our own regulations and our own laws to accommodate that,” Sisulu concluded.
Story here.