27/07/2011 | Last updated: 23:24 |  

Somali Pirate (Getty Images)

Jonathan Delf discusses the asymmetric threat of piracy faced by commercial shipping, and argues that long range less-lethal solutions are vital to protecting the ships and crew

Piracy at sea has long gripped the imagination, with its romanticised image of swashbuckling heroes, buried treasures and tales of high adventure. The reality in the modern age, however, is a rather different story, with acts of piracy costing world trade an estimated seven to tem billion US dollars annually. It is almost impossible to calculate the human cost for those held for ransom against their will for extended periods of time.

We have become familiar with the term “asymmetric warfare” in environments such as Iraq and Afghanistan, but an asymmetric conflict at sea is a comparatively new development. The pirate groups off the east coast of Africa, and most commonly operating from the shores of Somalia, are the very definition of an asymmetric threat. Typically operating from small fishing craft using outboard motors (or “skiffs” as they are most commonly known) the pirates are by and large poorly equipped with the most rudimentary of tools. The ubiquitous AK-47 and a makeshift ladder for scaling a vessel’s freeboard utilised by the pirate stand in sharp contrast with the sophisticated vessel tracking, radar and communications of a modern merchant vessel. The pirates, however, have shown remarkable degrees of adaptability, employing “pack” tactics through lurking offshore in gangs of skiffs to bring down their prey. Where merchant vessels have sought refuge by rerouting (often at considerable expense) to deeper international waters, the pirates have followed supported by larger vessels or “mother ships” to enable the resupply of the basic skiffs with essentials such as fuel and water.

The success of the pirates’ tactics is due in part by the very nature of commercial merchant trade today. Ironically, as our merchant vessels have become increasingly autonomous and more reliable by design, their crew compliments have reduced. This in turn means they have become more vulnerable to even small contingents of armed pirates. To counter this problem some merchant vessels have taken to carrying armed guards on board, often at considerable cost, in the hope that these teams will prevent or deter a pirate attack. While this short-term tactic may prove effective, it has a number of disadvantages associated with it, not least that employing armed guards rather defeats the objective of achieving savings through smaller ship crews. Armed guards also present some complex legal issues depending upon the flag state of the vessel carrying them and the looming question of who they are actually responsible to. While armed security firms are readily used ashore for a wide variety of tasks, their regulation and standards are still very much under debate when they are utilised offshore.

Across industry, alternatives are emerging that could provide real answers to vessel protection. Ultimately the use of lethal force should be selected as a last resort, whereas non-lethal protective measures can help to create a “layered” and proportional defence around a vulnerable vessel or offshore platform. One such product is the “Nemesis 5000”, which provides a rotating water jet to create a curtain of water around the perimeter of the vessel – hampering an attacker’s attempt to board the ship. Such close-in protective measures clearly have an advantage over the armed guard, in that they can be activated and employed without risking a member of crew to man the system. Combining this type of system with vessel hardening such as barbed wire may not prevent a pirate gaining access to the ship, but should buy crucial time for the crew to alert authorities or seek refuge in a safe room. Alternatively, Long Range Acoustic Device (or LRAD) systems allow a vessel to direct verbal warnings (or sonic deterrents) at long range directly at a suspect vessel. Similarly, BCB International’s “Buccaneer” launchers utilise compressed air to launch 60-meter entanglement nets designed to foul oncoming skiffs’ propellers and therefore disable the attacker before they have a chance to attempt a boarding. Usefully, the Buccaneer can also deploy payloads such as smoke cartridges out to 700 meters, which means that, like the LRAD system, it can create an effect on a target well before it comes into close proximity with the vessel.

Lethal force, in the form of armed guards, is appealing not because a merchant vessel seeks to kill attacking pirates but because the use of automatic or semi-automatic weapons can have an effect at range. Preventing or deterring a pirate attack at the earliest opportunity simply makes sense, whereas the use of safe rooms, for example, are effective but only after the fact. Non-lethal technology can supplement conventional weapons when there is a grey area of doubt about a vessel’s intentions. Clearly identifying a small fishing craft among a host of similar craft on the busy waters of the Somali basin as a piracy threat is not a simple task. Indeed, the Somali pirates have become adept at concealing their intentions, not least because they normally conduct fishing in those very waters. Multinational companies are often reluctant to employ armed guards whose only resort is the use of lethal force because of the legality of using such force and the public relations ramifications that could occur if that lethal force was used in error. Piracy may damage profitability but a PR disaster as a result of the reckless use of lethal weapons is certain to be catastrophic to a company’s reputation.

Ultimately there is no single silver bullet solution to the threats of piracy around the world. While Somalia is perhaps the most prominent example today, there are numerous nations with extended coastlines who already have, or could quickly become engulfed in, a piracy problem. To hope that the problems of poverty and lack of proper governance in these nations can easily and quickly be fixed is naïve. Equally, the sheer geographical scale of piracy means that conventional naval forces are simply stretched too thinly to be able to protect every vessel at every point in its transit.

Armed guards may well provide some of the solution, particularly in high intensity “hot spots” of pirate attacks, but their use across the merchant fleet will almost certainly be too prohibitive in the long term. It is for these reasons that technological solutions which have served the merchant marine industry so well in the past are most likely to provide the long-term security solutions in the future. As more and more companies take steps to adequately equip their fleets against piracy attacks, in the same manner as they do against natural risks such as fires or flooding, the task of the pirate will become exponentially more difficult and less attractive.

Jonathan Delf is a Project Manager with BCB International Ltd, developing innovative non-lethal solutions such as the “Buccaneer” to counter piracy at sea. He has previously served as an officer with the Royal Navy and with the British Army, including tours of duty in East and West Africa and Afghanistan.