Piracy - Armed Guards Revisited And General Overview

Recent developments

The recent announcement by the UK Government that weapons will be allowed on UK-flagged vessels is not perhaps as revolutionary as it might first appear. Under the relevant firearms legislation, shot guns and single shot rifles were already permitted, subject to the appropriate certification having been obtained. Rather, the new government guidelines and the headlines they have generated have been about the use of previously prohibited weapons (such as fully automatic "assault" rifles) and equipment. Notwithstanding this change of stance from the discouragement of the deployment of armed guards on ships to a position where accepted, their deployment is subject always to the regime laid down in the Firearms Act 1968. The debate has been given a further boost by the findings of the UK Foreign Affairs Committee ("FAC"), which issued a far-reaching report on 5 January 2012, concluding that the UK Government was right to change its position, but that more guidance was now needed on the lethal use of force and self-defence.

In his evidence to the FAC, the then-head of EU NAVFOR (European Union Naval Force), General Buster Howes said that to police the Indian Ocean and to have the capability to respond to an attack anywhere within the first "golden" hour would require 85 helicopter-carrying war ships. The combined fleet deployed in such cases so far seems to vary between around 15 to 20 vessels and, in these times of austerity, governments seem content to push the problem back onto the commercial sector. A number of European countries, including Norway and Cyprus, are also putting in place legislation that will allow armed guards on vessels. Other nations, such as Greece and Germany, are likely to follow suit.

The mantra of the private security world is that there has still been no vessel hijacked with armed guards on board. This remains this sector's unique selling point and has gained acceptance within the shipping industry. Statistically, however, more vessels avoid capture through the use of good seamanship and adherence to the Best Management Practice ("BMP"). Armed guards on ships are found on board an estimated 35% of vessels transiting through the high risk areas and this has no doubt contributed to the year-on-year decrease in successful hijackings. Implementation and a greater awareness of BMP4, as well as simply routing vessels closer to India, must also account in part for the decrease in attacks. The statistics for the past few months show only three hijackings, compared with 14 for the corresponding period last year. The pendulum appears to have swung, at...