In India, the proposal under consideration is to seek retired navy officers from the pool maintained by the Directorate of Resettlement under the Ministry of Defence. Each vessel can have a group of five armed personnel – one officer and four others. The shipping companies have to bear the cost of hiring the guards.
Already the IMO ruling is helping nations to realize the most logical path towards protection of ships. Put armed guards on boats!
It is interesting that the only folks they will allow to be on these vessels is retired naval officers? And that these guards will be drawn from a ‘pool maintained by the Directorate of Resettlement under the Ministry of Defence‘. India has a huge population and I am sure this pool of retired naval officers is pretty substantial. I am sure they will be happy to make the extra income as well.
With that said, there might be a chance that the demand ‘could’ outweigh the supply of qualified manpower. Or the Indian government might change it’s mind and allow private companies to choose whomever they want to contract with, as opposed to being forced to only draw from one source. The market of force is pretty extensive these days, and if retired Indian Naval Officers are not cutting the mustard, there are other sources.
The other thing here is that there was no mention of licensing? I would think that the Indians would develop a licensing mechanism for this guard pool? And with that license, I would be curious if there would be any legal provisions dealing with the taking of prisoners or rules of engagement that would be ‘productive’ and not counter-productive? It’s little things like that, that could mean all the difference. We can either have a resource sapping ‘defense industry’ floating around out there or a piracy destroying machine called ‘offense industry’, and licensing and the legal authority backing that action is key.
I am all about ‘Expulsis Piratus, Restituta Commerica‘. With piracy growing at an exponential rate and with no end in sight, this is the kind of ‘thinking’ about the problem that needs to be done. It is not enough to just defend vessels, and eventually an offensive mechanism needs to be created to eradicate this problem. –Matt
Govt to deploy armed guards on board cargo vessels
N. K. Kurup
May 24, 2011
The Government has decided to allow deployment of armed guards – preferably retired naval officers – on board Indian cargo vessels sailing on the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean, a top government official told Business Line on Tuesday.
Detailed guidelines on the number of guards that each vessel can have will be issued shortly, he said.
In the wake of rising incidents of piracy on the high seas, Indian shipping lines have been seeking government permission to deploy armed guards on board their ships.