Piracy and Other Critical Incidents at Sea – How to Reduce Impact on Mariners? The Mariner’s Viewpoint SOCP Spring Meeting 2013

Introduction 1990 Graduate of SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler Sailed for Military Sealift Command as 3 rd Mate, 2 nd Mate and Cargo Officer for most of the 90s Worked in tug and barge industry on East Coast and Hawaii Chief Mate and Master on MSC-contracted survey vessels from 2006 – 2008 operating in Western Pacific, Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean Past four years (2009 – 2013) have been Chief Mate onboard Maersk Alabama

You are trying to prevent this…

Salalah, Oman Djibouti, Djibouti Mombasa, Kenya Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Jebel Ali, UAE Maersk Alabama Area of Operation Pre-2009 Piracy Routing Post 2009 Piracy Routing

Piracy Incidents

Many components to piracy and vessel security….. There are many aspects to anti-piracy preparations and operations ranging from the outfitting of vessels to tactics used. Today, however, I will try to address only two of these components – risk management and the additional stress on the seafarer.

The risk….. Between 2009 and 2012, the mantra onboard was, “It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when…..” If there are skiffs in the water, you have between 6 and 12 minutes. After that, they either have the ship or are going away. ….is high, but is it is high as it once was?

Current Piracy Risks in Gulf of Aden / Horn of Africa (GOA/HOA) AOR CatastrophicSeriousMajorMinorMinimal Extremely Improbable Low Likelihood Likely High Likelihood Near Certainty Consequence – Higher to Lower ProbabilityProbability ProbabilityProbability Post 2009 Piracy : Probability (5) X Consequence (5) = 25 Post 2012 Scenario : Probability (3) X Consequence (5) = 15 Risk = Probability X Consequence

Applying the Bow-Tie Model to Piracy Piracy Or Armed Robbery Pirates approach vessel Crew under stress Pirates fire at vessel Crew in citadel Physical / mental stress Crew in citadel Physical / mental stress Crew injured/killed due to weapons use Crew held for ransom Pirates board vessel Pirates seize vessel Early detection / Hard target Non-lethal or lethal means / Crew in citadel Crew disables vessel & waits for military Lethal means / All entrances secure Only necessary crew / protective gear Good comms / stores of food and water Planned response by shipping company / flag state Have a well drilled plan / Brief crew

Control measures in place to mitigate risk of piracy BMP-4 (Best Management Practices, Version 4) from UKMTO Razor wire / fire hoses / dummies Establish citadel Non-lethal means – LRAD, laser, searchlights Armed Security Have a robust security plan Drill the plan frequently and realistically so that all crewmembers are familiar with it

How has piracy changed us? “I know I’m paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?” “Chronic unease” is a term I first heard a couple of years ago which describes our situation pretty well, but probably applies to all mariners. It’s a form of ongoing risk analysis, but is a possible fatigue issue. Watch in open ocean used to be a place to catch up on paperwork, correct charts, etc. Not anymore. This has caused the mates’ daily work hours to rise. BMP-4 talks of keeping minimal people on deck in high risk waters. As we are always there, we must modify our behavior/workload to keep people safe.

How has piracy changed us? (continued) Areas that used to be safe havens aren’t anymore. Explaining the vessel’s actions/reality of piracy situation to others in shipping industry is sometimes difficult.

Reducing Stress Have a robust anti-piracy/emergency plan. Drill the plan! Keep crew informed of situation. Good communications. Mariners need to discuss issues with family. If the mariner cannot reach family due to communications being disturbed - especially after a publicized event – the company should contact families. Debrief crew after critical incident/piracy IAW IMP MSC.1/Circ PIRACY AND ARMED ROBBERY AGAINST SHIPS - Guidance to ship owners and ship operators, shipmasters and crews on preventing and suppressing acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships

Thank you! Questions and/or comments