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Maritime piracy :
Do we need a specific training for crews ?



Introduction

       The merchant marine seafarers are more and more exposed to acts of piracy and not only in SOMALIAN waters but also along East and West African, South American or Indonesian coasts where there are less and less secure areas. One can always avoid these areas, but the characteristic of the ship-owner, if he wants to be able to earn his life, is to satisfy the needs of his customers and thus be able to work in any part of the world! Crews, who are in the service of the ship-owner who pays them at the end of the month, are thus likely to be confronted with piracy and, in ultimate cases, to be taken as hostages.

Attitude of the Ship-owner

       Concerned about health and wellbeing of his passengers and his crews, the Ship-owner will send his ship to cross these risky zones only if all the conditions of risk reduction are taken. In fact, risk zero does not exist and everyone knows it. It is thus a question of reducing the risks to minimum tolerable level.

Attitude of the flag Administration

       For a long time our Maritime Administration, which has the responsibility for safety and security of the ships under its flag, use to base its own requirements or recommendations on IMO circulars.
       For some time, now the IMO has elaborated "Guidelines on prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robberies against the ships". These guidelines are regularly updated (revision 4 is under process at this moment) but they have a major weak point: they mostly give advice on prevention! Indeed, as you know, "IMO does not have teeth " (« Blue caps » does not exist!) ie that it can count, for repression, only on the measures which can be set up by the security forces of the Member States via a UN decision or from another entity (European Union for example)!

Current recommendations

       Even if they address prevention of armed robbery acts or piracy only, the guidelines nonetheless have forgotten to prepare the sailors should they be confronted to a hostage situation and then, the short but frightening situation of being in the middle of the targets in case of a final attack by security forces!
       Piracy has increased very quickly, a wide progression of 200% in 2008 for 140 attacked ships, 45 of them hijacked and nearly 800 sailors taken as hostages! At this precise moment there would be still 19 ships and nearly 300 sailors in hands of Somalian pirates! IMO can not work "fast"! So preparing of seafarers to be submitted to hostage condition is only in the early stages!

What is really this preparation of seafarers?

       STCW, the international training code for seafarers is, at this moment, under review and we will talk soon about STCW 2010 instead of STCW 95. In this new version security training is officialised and not only for officers but for crew members (ref STCW A VI/5 and STCW A VI/6)… unfortunately a training to survive in the event of being held hostage is not scheduled!
       Nevertheless, under the request of IMO, the contracting governments are invited to study and to give their suggestions to a working group which will, perhaps, publish its conclusions in 2010 (STW 41)… thus for an application required as soon as possible in …2012! It will be too late, piracy is a today-concern! And even if the security armed forces on the spot in the Gulf of Aden or in the Indian Ocean have now some success, ships and their crews are still hijacked almost every day and sometimes with very tragic consequences (death of the skipper of the TANIT for example)

AFCAN Proposals

       The main French ships’ captain association estimates that it is urgent to prepare the crew members to survive if they should be taken as hostage and estimate that the more or less detailed instructions included in the ships security plans of safety are far from being sufficient (ref. § A 9.4.4 of code ISPS): « the SSP shall address … procedures for responding to security threat or breach of security, including provisions for maintaining critical operations of the ship ". Our association thus proposes that a specific training is quickly delivered, in a form or another, to crew members working on board merchant ships intending to cross the pirates areas and…as soon as possible… without awaiting the 1st of July 2012!
       We thus propose a specific training which can be added to the already existing training for « Crisis management and human behaviour" (STCW A V/3) which is mandatory only for passenger ships and thus to give out this training to all crew members or deliver a specific training on "survival in the event of being held hostage by pirates or terrorist" as soon as possible ashore or on board.
       To this end, it would be perhaps judicious to start to train the « trainers », the SSOs for example, so they can train their crews during their time on board the ship. We would take advantage also, if it is necessary, to give out a specific pedagogical training to ensure their suitable skill as security trainers. IMO is very much in favour of this kind of transmission of knowledge which is unfortunately not very well followed in our industry!

Proposed contents of the training course :

The referential used should be those of industry (OMI, UNO, ICS/ISF, BMI) and could contain for example:
  • Knowledge and understanding of MSC Circ. 623 (1 hour)
  • Case Study: Hostage taking on board « LE PONANT » (1 hour)
  • Experience feedback acquired after hostage-taking (1 hour)
  • Recommended behaviour in the event of being held hostage with what to do ! …and what not to do ! (1 hour)
  • Knowledge of the foreseeable effects called "STOCKHOLM syndrome" (1/2 hour) and human factor
  • Recommended behaviour in the event of intervention of the security armed forces (15 minutes)
  • Pedagogy (1 hour and 15 minutes)
  • Total : 6 hours
So this « train the trainer » can be given in one day. This training should thus take into account the experience feedback which can be withdrawn from the book of Captain P. MARCHESSEAU "Hostage-taking on board LE PONANT" (Ed Michel LAFON 18,90 €)- in French only.

Conclusion

       The preventive guidelines published by our industry and the security naval forces working in the area (MSCHOA, UKMTO and ALINDIEN web sites) interests particularly the ship’s captain and his Ship Security Plan. On the other hand, to be taken as a hostage or to undergo an attack of a military commando, all crew members are concerned. A simple training on the best attitude to have under these extraordinary conditions is to be taken into account …if that led to the survival of only one hostage it’s worth it isn’t it?

* AFCAN has communicated this proposal to the French Maritime Administration on 2009 early days.
Capt Bertrand APPERRY, Mai 2009


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