Greece plans armed guards on ships to counter piracy threat
December 2, 2011
Greece is set to allow its cargo ships to carry armed guards on board to defend them against pirates.
Planned legislation will allow up to six armed guards on a Greek-flagged ship sailing through pirate-infested waters.
“To improve safe sailing and crew safety aboard Greek ships crossing seas with increased piracy activity, an initiative has been taken to draft legislation for the embarkation of armed individuals on commercial ships,” said the Greek Ministry of Security.
However, George Tsouris, Head Secretary of the Greek captains’ union, who has himself fallen victim to pirates, warned: “This measure threatens to set off an arms race with the pirates.
“It could also disrupt the chain of command on board,” he added.
A spokeswoman for the UK Home Office said last month that a licensing scheme for armed protection on UK-flagged vessels would begin soon. The licences restrict the use of weapons to areas off the Somali coast, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.
The UK’s Transport Ministry said it expected around half of the cargo ships that transit those waters to want to use armed guards.
According to figures from the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, as of yesterday, there had been 409 attacks by pirates around the world this year, including 26 hijackings in Somalia, with 450 seafarers taken hostage.
Currently, Somali pirates are said to be holding 10 vessels and 172 seafarers hostage.
Courtesy of IFW
