Page 18 - INTERCARGO - Annual Review 2019/2020
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ANNUAL REVIEW
Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea
Piracy and armed robbery at sea International shipping industry associations including INTER-
CARGO have joined forces and maintain a dedicated Mar-
continue to be headline concerns itime Global Security Website at https://www.maritimeglo-
in 2020. The International Maritime balsecurity.org providing anti-piracy guidance, such as:
Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting • Global Counter Piracy Guidance for Companies,
Masters and Seafarers
Centre recorded 98 incidents of • BMP5 - Best Management Practices to Deter Piracy
piracy and armed robbery in the and Enhance Maritime Security in the Red Sea, Gulf of
Aden, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea
first half of 2020, up from 78 in the • BMP West Africa
same period the previous year. • Regional Guide to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery
Against Ships in Asia
Every incident reported is a blow to
the confidence of seafarers serving The website also lists the external links to relevant organ-
isations playing a role in the fight against piracy, including
on board ships around the world. contact information for military/navy sources in the main re-
Regions of main concern include gions concerned. Most of these sources provide daily and
weekly incident reports. The contact information also allows
the Gulf of Guinea, the waters of incident reports to be delivered to email inboxes.
South East Asia and the waters off Reports of actual and attempted attacks around the world
Somalia. by pirates and armed robbers against ships are continuous-
ly distributed through the International Maritime Organiza-
tion’s (IMO) Piracy and Armed Robbery module within the
IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GI-
SIS) at https://gisis.imo.org/Public/Default.aspx/
The IMO posts monthly collections of incident reports for
easy overview. These include the names and description of
ships attacked; position and date/time of incidents; conse-
quences to the crew, ship or cargo; and actions taken by the
crew and coastal authorities.
It is necessary to register and liaise with navy forces, to re-
quest support and protection. During these communica-
tions relevant vessels ships may be sent updates on the
security situation of intended sea passages and potential
vulnerability to attack.
It is essential that suspicious activities and incidents are no-
tified to regional reporting centres. This not only enables the
navy to effectively deploy their assets and assist ships in an
emergency, but also helps the centres to send out alerts to
other ships to raise their awareness of the security situation
of the region. The Admiralty Maritime Security Charts show
the format, contacts and other detailed information for rou-
tine reporting.
For ships operating in areas with reported piracy and armed
robbery cases, the best advice is to obtain access to the lat-
est guidance and best practice, carry out a risk assessment
and follow industry best practice.
For more information on this topic please visit:
intercargo.org/topics/piracy
