safety & security conference review
Anti-piracy strategies should include planning and citadels
Co-operation and planning is crucial for an integrated anti-piracy strategy that should include ship hardening, citadels and contact with naval forces
O
ffshore vessel owners need to work more closely with one another to counter piracy threats in the Indian Ocean and
West Africa, said speakers at the Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference. Owners should have more input into the maritime industry’s best management practice (BMP) for dealing with the piracy threat. They should also co-ordinate with naval forces to ensure there is cover during transit and offshore operations.
The piracy threat is an issue of growing importance as more gas is discovered in pirate- prone areas offshore East Africa. The region is rapidly becoming the next deepwater exploration ‘hot spot’ as companies such as BG Group, Statoil and Anadarko increase their investment and discover more giant gas fields. The potential in the region is so great that BG has started discussing methods to develop gas resources with an onshore LNG plant in Tanzania. Kristian Evjen, a staff officer at Nato’s shipping centre in London, updated the offshore industry on the latest piracy information and anti-piracy strategies for operating in East Africa. He said increasing use of armed guards, and shipowners following BMP4, has led to a drop in overall piracy hijackings. But pirates continue to expand the range of their attacks down to the Mozambique Channel and up into the Arabian Sea. As part of a layered approach to protection, vessel operators should report primarily with Nato Shipping Centre, said Commander Evjen. Nato co-operates closely with EUNAVFOR (EU-led), Combined Maritime Force (US-led) and the UK Maritime Trade Office (UKMTO) in Dubai, to ensure the provision of accurate and timely information, advice and guidance to the industry. The organisations also co-ordinate with other naval forces, such as the Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Russian and others, to ensure the best possible protection of the vessels transiting the area. Commander Evjen recommended offshore vessel operators follow BMP4 and consult the Nato Shipping Centre website (
www.shipping.
nato.int) so they can view live charts of piracy
www.osjonline.com
activities, daily updates, weekly assessments and monthly newsletters. “The information we gather can be downloaded by ships if they have VSAT [satellite communications] and can be a tool used by captains for their voyage planning during that part of the voyage,” he explained. He said counter-piracy measures are working as the number of hijacked ships is at its lowest since 2008. Six ships and 175 seafarers are still being held hostage. Three of these vessels are total losses and will never sail again. But there is no room for complacency as piracy activity is likely to rise again during the second quarter. “Pirate activity fell during the monsoons, when we had a period of heavy weather. Also, since the start of this year, we have taken eight piracy groups with up to 80 pirates on board naval ships,” Commander Evjen said. “Some of the decline in attacks is down to the use of private armed security teams. It works. But we do have concerns over the quality of some of these teams. Plus the information flow means shipping can move away from high-risk areas. “However, not everyone is following BMP, and not reporting to us and, unfortunately, these are the ones being taken. By following BMP and hardening ships, operators can delay piracy attacks in such a way as we can help ships with a naval vessel in the vicinity. The offshore industry is not participating in creating BMP, which I find quite peculiar as there are a lot of offshore vessels going in the pirate areas
and they are vulnerable to attack.” Increasingly, citadels are being used to protect crew from piracy attacks. Commander Evjen said owners should consider design and communications requirements for
citadels to
ensure they are effective. “The effectiveness of citadels will depend on how well they are designed. As most vessels do not have pre-built citadels, a lot of owners use enginerooms. We have to have all personnel inside citadels and we will not do anything unless we are sure every person of the crew is inside. Citadels must have all the crew inside and must be secured before naval forces can act. Citadels also need to have long-range communications not just VHF as we are not always in VHF range.” For this communication, citadels could use satellite phone services from Iridium or Inmarsat. During the conference session, Topaz Marine’s chief operating officer Roy Donaldson highlighted the threat to offshore vessels on routes between Singapore and the Middle East as pirates have increased their attacks in the Arabian Sea. There is also a growing threat of attacks in the
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden affecting offshore vessels mobilising to the Mediterranean. “The cost of taking OSVs through pirate zones is very high,” he said. “Insurance companies insist on operators having armed guards on board. It is a real problem for the industry that we are not pooling our resources and vetting security teams and reducing our costs.” OSJ
Kristian Evjen: citadels need to have long-range communications not just VHF Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference and Awards 2012 I 17
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