Govt issues norms for armed guards on ships

Merchant ships have liberty to transit territorial waters of any country under the concept of "innocent passage"

With the return of Italian marines to India, the Union shipping ministry too has got into action. It has asked Indian shipping companies to keep armed guards on the vessels at their own risk. It has, however, also come up with a set of guidelines that ship owners should follow if they decide to put armed guards on board.

Merchant ships have the liberty to transit the territorial waters of any country under the concept of “innocent passage”. However, if a vessel arrives with arms of board the very concept stands challenged. It also raises issues for customs, police and other security agencies. This is one of the reasons why even the International Maritime Organisation has left this decision to the concerned flag states.

The shipping ministry has made it clear that it does not endorse the use of armed guards on merchant ships, but subject to their risk assessment ships can deploy such personnel on board. The Government has advised ship owners to investigate and do a background-check of the ownership, structure, insurance cover, financial position of the private maritime security company.

The Government has also recommended that “the ideal team size would be five persons who should be able to demonstrate responsible management and use of weapons and ammunition at all times when on board.”

The guideline are limited to the deployment of private security agents and do not mention any such assistance from the Central Reserve Police Force or naval forces.

With no apparent solution to the menace of piracy on high seas, putting armed guards was thought to be the best deterrent possible. Around 35% of ships that pass the pirates infested waters between Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, deploy armed security guards. None of them have been hijacked by the pirates. Even the marine insurance clubs have started to factor their premium rates in tandem with anti-piracy measures on board ships.

For India, the problem of piracy has also resulted in a quantum jump in the shipping traffic alongside the coastline. More ships have started to chart their course closer to the Indian coastline instead of taking a more direct route across the Arabian Sea. Much of this is because of the changing tactics of pirates who use the hi-jacked ships as the “mother ship” away from Gulf of Aden and then expanding their operations across the expanse of Arabian Sea.