The issue of using armed security guards onboard merchant vessels used to be a matter that required particular attention in the past. However, during the recent years and due to the fact that the maritime security industry became more regulated (e.g. ISO/PAS 28007:2012) the use of privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) onboard ships has become a routine.
Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a project of the One Earth Future foundation (OEF) has published a few months ago its third annual assessment of the Economic Cost of Somali Piracy for 2012 (ECoP 2012). This year’s assessment, like the one before it, considered nine separate, first order cost categories and found that maritime piracy cost the global economy between $5.7 and $6.1 billion in 2012. This estimate is the result of extensive research, supplemented by contributions from and an extensive audit by independent piracy experts. At between$5.7 and $6.1 billion, the cost of piracy to the global community fell by around $850 million, or 12.6% from 2011.
According to Fairplay, Denmark’s TORM crew onboard the tanker Torm Gertrud used a novel method to repel a pirate attack off Nigeria over the weekend. Jakob Risom, press officer at TORM reported that the crew overflowed the ballast system meaning that water was poured over the side of the vessel.
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Officer of the Watch 