UK won't oppose private armed guards on its cargo ships
The UK is set to drop its opposition to the use of private armed guards on board its cargo ships, finally lifting the threat of prosecution for shipowners that have been operating within a legal grey area, IFW reports.
The news came after Italy’s defence ministry went one step further and agreed to provide armed forces on its country’s ships passing through the Gulf of Aden.
UK Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham confirmed, in a speech delivered at the Chamber of Shipping in London yesterday, that the policy switch would be formally announced shortly, in effect reversing government advice that “strongly discouraged” armed vessel protection.
The phrase was deliberately ambiguous, in that operators of UK-flagged vessels have been free to disregard that “advice”. Indeed, UK-based security companies are clear market leaders in the field.
In a report in IFW’s sister publication, Lloyd’s Loading List, Bellingham said: “I want to underline that we are not doing this lightly.
“We are planning for the arming of ships to be a temporary measure only. It is a response to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves.”
Bellingham also took the opportunity to make four other policy announcements. First, the Seychelles has agreed to host a new maritime intelligence and information co-ordination centre, which will be partly funded by the UK, and will have an operational input from the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Second, there will be a further £2.25 million donation towards the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Mauritius, the Seychelles, Tanzania and within Somalia, with the hope of tackling some of the root causes of piracy in the region.
Third, the UK will provide £200,000 to the UN Development Programme to conduct a maritime security needs assessment in Puntland and Galmudug, two breakaway regions of Somalia. Finally, £2 million will be spent on community engagement and economic development in Somalia.
Meanwhile, the Italian shipowners’ association, Confitarma, has welcomed renewed promises of military support, following the recapture of the supramax newbuilding Montecristo by UK and US special forces after the vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates this week.
Confitarma President Paolo d’Amico said 10 teams of six military personnel would be available for Italian-registered vessels. The final obstacle was to secure the agreements of ports and states in the region for the transit of the personnel and their weaponry, enabling them to join and leave vessels.
The news came after Italy’s defence ministry went one step further and agreed to provide armed forces on its country’s ships passing through the Gulf of Aden.
UK Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham confirmed, in a speech delivered at the Chamber of Shipping in London yesterday, that the policy switch would be formally announced shortly, in effect reversing government advice that “strongly discouraged” armed vessel protection.
The phrase was deliberately ambiguous, in that operators of UK-flagged vessels have been free to disregard that “advice”. Indeed, UK-based security companies are clear market leaders in the field.
In a report in IFW’s sister publication, Lloyd’s Loading List, Bellingham said: “I want to underline that we are not doing this lightly.
“We are planning for the arming of ships to be a temporary measure only. It is a response to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves.”
Bellingham also took the opportunity to make four other policy announcements. First, the Seychelles has agreed to host a new maritime intelligence and information co-ordination centre, which will be partly funded by the UK, and will have an operational input from the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Second, there will be a further £2.25 million donation towards the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Mauritius, the Seychelles, Tanzania and within Somalia, with the hope of tackling some of the root causes of piracy in the region.
Third, the UK will provide £200,000 to the UN Development Programme to conduct a maritime security needs assessment in Puntland and Galmudug, two breakaway regions of Somalia. Finally, £2 million will be spent on community engagement and economic development in Somalia.
Meanwhile, the Italian shipowners’ association, Confitarma, has welcomed renewed promises of military support, following the recapture of the supramax newbuilding Montecristo by UK and US special forces after the vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates this week.
Confitarma President Paolo d’Amico said 10 teams of six military personnel would be available for Italian-registered vessels. The final obstacle was to secure the agreements of ports and states in the region for the transit of the personnel and their weaponry, enabling them to join and leave vessels.