Ships sailing under a British flag will be able to carry armed guards to protect them from pirates, according to UK prime minister David Cameron. He says he wants to combat the risks to shipping off the coast of Somalia, where 49 of the world’s 53 hijackings took place in 2010.
Under the plans, the home secretary would be given the power to license armed guards for ships. No ship carrying armed security has yet been hijacked, the government claims.
Up to 200 vessels flying the red ensign — the British merchant navy flag — regularly sail close to Somalia. Officials estimate that about 100 of those would immediately apply for permission to have armed guards.
Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea every ship is subject to the jurisdiction of the country whose flag it carries.
It is thought many British-registered ships already carry armed guards because they feel they have no alternative.
However, licensing ships to carry armed guards could still fall foul of laws in other countries. Egypt recently announced that armed guards would not be permitted on ships sailing through the Suez canal.
Pirates operating out of Somalia now range over around three million square miles of sea leaving existing navy patrols stretched.
The hope will be that armed patrols act as a deterrent, but there are risks. Some experts warn of the danger of an escalation in the violence with pirates responding with heavier weapons.
The practicalities can also be complex — some countries are less willing than others to have foreign nationals working for private security companies carrying weapons in their ports or while sailing in their waters.
And while maritime and security industry experts believe this
measure may help, it is unlikely to deal with the fundamental causes of the piracy problem — that will require more effective governance and stability in Somalia.
Cameron said he wanted to legalize armed guards after talks in Australia with Commonwealth leaders from the region over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.
But armed guards would only be permitted while passing through dangerous waters, such as the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Previous government policy had strongly discouraged the use of private armed guards on board UK vessels.
But ministers began to consider amending the position to combat piracy in ‘exceptional circumstances’, Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham said in a submission to the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee earlier last year.
The Home Office looked at how to apply UK firearms legislation on board UK ships, and whether it was feasible to authorise and monitor the possession of ‘prohibited’ firearms at sea, he said.
Cameron was asked if he was comfortable with giving private security operatives the right to “shoot to kill” if necessary, and told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “We have to make choices.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents over 80% of the world’s merchant fleet, welcomed the move as likely to have a deterrent effect - but said it was only a ‘short-term measure’. Secretary general Peter Hinchliffe said the ICS was concerned about how pirates would respond to the move. “To date, no ships with armed guards on board have been captured. But pirates will respond with increased firepower to overwhelm the armed guards, and when that happens the impact on the crew will be pretty dreadful,” he said.