Interim guidance to private maritime security companies (PMSCs) has been agreed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) maritime safety committee (MSC).
A special high-level segment of the MSC saw an intense debate over the first day-and-a-half of the committee’s session on how the international community should deal with issues related to the deployment of privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships, and the carriage of arms on board.
Following further debate during a working group, the MSC agreed interim guidance to PMSCs providing contracted armed security personnel on board ships in the high risk area.
The guidance covers:
• PMSC professional certification, including the recommendation that PMSC should seek certification with relevant national and international private maritime security service standards when these are established;
• PMSC company requirements, including the recommendation that PMSC should establish procedures to provide maritime security services to ship owners and ship operators and comply with all relevant legal requirements;
• Management, including recommendations on selection, vetting and training of personnel for a PCASP team;
• Deployment considerations, addressing the specific aspects of PCASP deployment and the role of the PMSC in ensuring efficient and successful deployments, including communications with the ship owner or operator, and including recommendations relating to management of firearms and ammunition from embarkation to disembarkation, and use of force. (The PMSC should recognize that laws governing the use of force may differ over time and according to location. The applicable national law, including any criminal laws, for an incident on a ship from which PCASP will be operating will be principally that of the flag state. It may also include the laws and regulations of coastal, port and other states.)
