Small Vessels - Physical Protection Considerations

Before embarking on a sea voyage to the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), operating in a port in the region or working within the immediate maritime environment a thorough Risk Assessment should be carried out. The Company Security Officers (CSO), Vessel Operators and Masters should carry out the Risk Assessment to judge the likelihood of an incident and the impact on their personnel and business. The Risk Assessment should be based on the latest available information and should be updated regularly (section 4 Maritime Security Planning Considerations and section 5 Protection Measures).

There is no place for complacency. All practical measures to manage and reduce risk should be deployed in order to protect the vessel and crew from the threat of attack.

Risk Assessment

The risk of being evaluated is the likelihood of harm to he crew or vessel from a maritime security threat.

Maritime Risk is defined and the likelihood of a known threat causing harm. By labelling likelihood in escalating stages and harm by increasing severity, it is possible to reliably show risk by use of a simple matrix.

Acceptability

Each company, CSO and Master will have a view on the level of for risk acceptable for a voyage or operation. The matrix above has been coloured to indicate the priority to mitigate each risk with red risks receiving the highest priority. Individual companies will set criteria for what is tolerable, and the Ship Security Plan should mitigate the risk to be as low as practicable.

On completion of any risk assessment and planning, carefully examine the additional self-protection taken into consideration and revisit the risk on the matrix to determine the updated residual risk.

Once the Risk Assessment is complete the owner should:

  Challenge tolerability.

  Question whether the measure adopted reduces the risk.

  Question if it is practical and realistic.

Record the Assessment

Records of risk assessments should be maintained both by the CSO and on board the vessel. These should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to capture lessons learnt and to highlight gaps. This will generate improvements and provide examples of best practice. Use this experience to educate staff and enhance training aids preparation and readiness. As more people read and understand the risk assessment the greater the level of preparedness becomes and the likelihood of spotting omissions and suggesting improvements is increased.

Self-Protection Measures

When the threat level is elevated either by prior warning, information from the MDAT - GoG, the onset of calm weather conditions or threat detection additional control measures need to be predefined and quickly applied to maintain or reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Choices are limited if the elimination or substitution of the threat, or if the fitting of additional physical protection is likely to prove impractical. 

Consideraions for the Master of a Vessel: Before the voyage

Crew Safety

  Ensure that crew members will not be trapped inside a vessel, during an attack or during an emergency for example fire or flood.

  Ensure the location of a Safe Muster Point and Citadel, if used, is identified and known to all crew members.

  Consider providing ballistic protection around areas of the bridge where crew may be required to remain during an attack. Attackers may fire weapons at the bridge to force the vessel to stop if underway and/or to gain access to the bridge once aboard and to force crew compliance.

Freeboard

  If a vessel is attacked, attackers will often try to board the ship at the lowest point above the waterline, making it easier for them to climb on board. Additional protective measures should be considered (see section 5).