The stated vulnerabilities exploited by the pirates include low speed, low freeboard (the height of the deck above the water), inadequate planning and procedures, poor visibility, low state of alert, lack of self-protective measures and slow response. Each company and each vessel must have a security officer who is charged with implementing BMP. Worse still, most of these incidents could have been prevented.Ī group of maritime organizations have jointly published "best management practices" (BMPs) for ship owners, operators and crews. But these vessels that were successfully attacked have been held for ransom, costing millions in payments and often much more in lost revenue. It is used by more than 30,000 ships annually.Īs these numbers illustrate, the chance of any individual ship being attacked is small. The bulk of these occurred in the Gulf of Aden, the strategically and commercially vital waterway off the coast of Somalia that links the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Last year, 430 ships were attacked by pirates throughout the globe.
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