Global's BMP - Section 1

Introduction

Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea

Piracy and armed robbery at sea is an organised and persistent criminal activity prevalent in many parts of the world. Attackers are often aggressive and subject their victims to violence and ill treatment. Ships have been hijacked, either for a ransom payment for the release of captive seafarers, theft of cargo or both. Some seafarers have been held hostage for several years.

Experience shows that applying the recommendations in this guidance will assist ships to detect, avoid, deter or delay attacks.

Not all mitigation measures in this guidance will be applicable to every ship type or in every region. Companies, CSOs and Masters should use this guidance when conducting threat and risk assessments.

The purpose of this guidance is to protect seafarers, the ship and cargo and, to facilitate threat and risk assessment and planning for voyages transiting areas where the threat of attack by pirates and armed robbers exists.

This guidance consists of:

• General advice and recommendations that are common to mitigate against attack by pirates and armed robbers;
• Guidance on threat and risk assessment, planning and the implementation of self-protection measures;
• Appendix A providing information on other security threats and the fundamental requirements and recommendations to ensure that companies and ships can respond to those threats in a proportionate and dynamic way; and
• Annexes providing information on regions where there is a risk of piracy and armed robbery and where prior planning and preparation before transiting the region is recommended.

This guidance is complementary to other industry regional guidance and that issued by international regional organisations such as the Regional Guide to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia produced by ReCAAP ISC in collaboration with other regional organisations.

This guidance also complements guidance on piracy and armed robbery provided in the latest IMO MSC Circulars (see the IMO website at www.imo.org) and should be seen as complementary to IMO MSC.1/Circ.1334 as amended.

Other sources of information include:

Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa website (www.mschoa.org)

UKMTO (www.ukmto.org)

NATO Shipping Centre (www.shipping.nato.int)

IMB Piracy Reporting Centre web site (https://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php/piracy-reporting-centre)

Information Fusion Centre Singapore (www.infofusioncentre.gov.sg)

ReCAAP website (www.recaap.org).

Nothing in this guidance detracts from the Master’s overriding authority and responsibility to protect the crew, ship, and cargo.

A review of the guidance will be carried out by the authors after one year and thereafter bi-annually. Unless there is an immediate and urgent issue requiring change.

Other Maritime Security Threats

Whilst this guidance has been developed for the specific purposes of mitigation against attack by pirates and armed robbers, experience has shown that the some of the procedures and measures described can be applied to mitigate against other maritime security threats, depending on the threat profile.

Appendix A provides guidance on other security threats to assist companies, CSOs and Masters in identifying and preparing for other maritime security threats that may be encountered during a voyage, and identifying the resources by which they can assess the risk to the ship and crew and identify measures to avoid and mitigate against the threat in the event that it materialises.

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