In this podcast we give an overview of BIMCO’s GUARDCON standard contract for employment of security guards on vessels.
Overview of @BIMCONews GUARDCON standard contract for employment of security guards on vessels. Podcast with @incelaw[ 10:44 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
I have to admit to being almost speechless about the Chatham House report on piracy (January 2012)
I understand that it is written from an economists point of view, however, the lack of discussion and consideration to our seafarers in the report is frankly disgusting.
I did a quick search to find how many times certain words were used:
Seafarer – 0
Mariner – 0
Crew – 4 : 3 refer to the crew on the pirate vessels and 1 refers to the victims. The reference is:
“As the piracy business is based on ransoming the crew, hostages are treated reasonably well”
You can read the report here and you might also like to see the BBC story on the report
In the summary points, the report states,
“The positive economic impacts of piracy are spread widely and a military strategy to eradicate it could seriously undermine local development.”
Wow! The implications of that statement are immense!
The first thing that most people tend to focus on with piracy is the financial cost. Some estimates put this burdon as high as $12bn a year. That’s a lot! But hang on, what about the human cost? These hostages are real people. And they’re moving goods for our consumption. Surely there is some possible way to encourage and nurture development of Somalia as a country and to improve the lives of its poor, deprived people that doesn’t revolve around ruining innocent seafarers lives…
In the summary of the analysis of their data the report writer states,
“The data analysis indicates pirate incomes have widespread and significant positive impacts on the Somali economy….. There are clear trickle-down effects for casual labourers and pastoralists because of higher cattle prices.
Although there are concerns about data quality, analysis of the exchange rate changes used to establish the impact of piracy money on the local economy correlates with traditional intelligence sources.”
Concerns about data quality? Is that the authors real concern? [Takes deep breath]
In the final conclusions the author notes:
“The conclusion that a large group of people can be expected to benefit from piracy should not discourage the international community from seeking a land-based solution. The total cost of piracy off the Horn of Africa (including the counter-piracy measures) was estimated to be in the region of US$7–12 billion for 2010, while ransoms were said to be in the region of US$250 million.
Even if Somali communities received all of the ransom money, replacing this source of income (for example with a combination of a foreign-funded security forces and development aid) would be considerably cheaper than continuing with the status quo.
A negotiated solution to the piracy problem should aim to exploit local disappointment among coastal communities regarding the economic benefits from piracy and offer them an alternative that brings them far greater benefits than hosting pirates does. A military crack-down on the other hand would deprive one of the world’s poorest nations of an important source of income and aggravate poverty. ”
What do you think of this report? Please leave your comments or tweet me @jtweed
Maritime Security Responses to Piracy – Summary of All Party group at UK Houses of Parliament chaired by Eric Joyce MP on 17th October 2011.
Panel members:
Mike Penning – UK Shipping Minister
Gavin Simmons – British Chamber of Shipping
Steven Jones – Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI)
Maritime Security Responses to Piracy - Summary of All Party group at UK Houses of Parliament[ 8:12 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
An overview of the latest advice and of how it differs from past BMPs can be downloaded from the SAMI website
This podcast is sponsored by iDirect. iDirect is the platform of choice for maritime VSAT connectivity helping to keep ships and their crews safe at sea. You can find out more at idirectmaritime.com
BMP4 - Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia based piracy. A guide from SAMI[ 7:34 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
To help celebrate the first-ever Day of the Seafarer, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos sends a message of admiration and gratitude to seafarers everywhere.
Thank you Seafarers.
Coracle is delighted to be supporting this initiative by publishing this podcast, by making the iPhone game Ship It! free for the day, by reducing the price of the iPhone app Maritime Glossary to £1.19 for the day and by running the ‘I’m the Captain’ quiz found at imo.coraclequiz.com
A message from IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos for Day of the Seafarer[ 2:27 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
According to Peter Cook (SAMI founder and former Royal Marine) the last time people with the initials SJ and PC were together on stage, they were part of the Sex Pistols. Referencing that bands’ guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook was a less obvious ice breaker than referring to Steven Jones (SAMI director and [...]
OCEANUSLive is a suite of applications that allows Ship and Yacht masters, CSOs, Duty Personnel Ashore, and relevant maritime safety and security bodies to collaborate within a single, secure environment to enhance the safety and security of vessels at sea.
Supported by Watchkeepers to provide advice, it can be used exclusively or in conjunction with shipping company internal communications capability. Emergency Coordination chat rooms can be set up in a matter of hours as necessary to meet the demand.
