A leading UK-based maritime risk consultancy, with close links to and knowledge of the LNG industry, and its global fleet of more than 370 vessels, said the high risk areas for attacks on shipping off the coast of Somalia and elsewhere have been relatively quiet in the first three quarters of 2012 because of robust mitigation measures.
According to one of the first established maritime risk consultancies, Hadcon of the UK, the provision of security escort services on board vessels has led to a temporary reduction in pirate activities, though several recent incidents have taken place offshore West Africa and Somalia.
The worst affected waterways and where many vessels carry security teams are the Gulf of Aden, near ports around the southern Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, offshore Somalia and at some West African ports.
It was only four months ago that pirates fired on an LNG carrier, the Japanese-owned Mitsui Osk Lines 126,300 cubic metres capacity "LNG Aries".
That attack took place about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Oman.
The International Maritime Bureau's anti-piracy unit is continuing to report incidents off Somalia and West Africa.
Just last week, about 320 nautical miles east of Mogadishu, Somalia, a skiff with six to eight pirates onboard approached at high speed and fired upon a vessel. The onboard security team returned fire, resulting in the skiff aborting and moving away. All crew were safe.
On October 5, at the port of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast around 14 pirates armed with AK47 assault rifles and knives boarded and hijacked an anchored tanker and kidnapped the crew.
The main piracy season is also approaching in the most dangerous waters and the industry will be watching closely for any upsurge in pirate activity, Hadcon said.
"In November the HRA weather pattern will change to the North East Monsoon where the sea and wind conditions historically favour the activities of the pirates," said Hadcon.
"Much attention will then be drawn to the future escalation or non-escalation of piracy," said the UK company, whose management and the majority of its security teams are former Special Boat Service and Royal Marine Commandos.
"Further risk analysis will determine patterns of pirate activity and the success or failure rate of piracy attacks that will be of paramount interest to all key commercial shipping stakeholders," Hadcon said.
"Concurrently, the owners, charterers and insurers are continually assessing the situation and some of the questions likely to be raised are: do we continue with security teams? Should we gradually scale down the number of the security team? Is Best Management Practises 4 (BMP4), the crew and the vessel specifications an effective deterrent against a piracy attack? Costs will also have to be considered under each option," Hadcon said.
The Hadcon management team explained that these questions would continue to be of interest to the financial drivers of commercial shipping, although the vessel owners' risks are huge if no mitigation measures are employed in whatever capacity.
There are other options that could be considered by the industry in the future, said Hadcon.
"Vessel design could be tailored to mitigate the present and future risks, while permanent specialist maritime security personnel could also be employed.
"Finally, it should not be underestimated that the presence of a well-rehearsed security team will currently deter any imminent pirate attack and give both the master and crew the confidence to go about their business knowing they are safe," Hadcon said.
More information on maritime risk services: www.hadcon.com
