MARITIME SECURITY.

Health, Safety and Duty of Care at Sea.

Sadly, cruise ships, passenger liners, super yachts and yachts, and especially the passengers and crew who sail in them, must be regarded as increasingly legitimate high value targets by pirates and highly motivated and sophisticated terrorists, as well as from other threats, such common riminals.  Especially so when these vessels transit areas such as the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, South East Asia or the Caribbean, all of which are considered to harbour potentially hostile protagonists.        

In the interest of Health, Safety and Duty of Care towards their employees and customers (passengers and Company shareholders), it is imperative senior Company Management do (and are seen to be doing) everything possible within their capabilities to ensure the passengers, crew, and the vessels themselves, are protected in every realistically feasible non-lethal way, from the palpable and increasing threats from, and risks of, terrorism, piracy and armed robbery.

To succeed, the promotion of personal awareness, self-realization and effective Crisis Management skills amongst (a) the ship’s senior management, and (b) shore-side management in the Company Head Quarters, is essential.  Safety Of Livas At Sea (SOLAS) must be the primary concern, and responsibility, of ship and shore-side management teams in life threatening situations.

To achieve this, it is strongly recommended a combination of (a) participation in bespoke **exercises, (b) learning from the experiences gained from the exercises, followed by (c) a thorough analytical audit of the existing on-board and shore-side emergency contingencies i.e. procedures and measures to deal with life threatening situations, be used to identify systemic vulnerabilities.

The subsequent expedition of any identified necessary remedial procedural adjustments, skills and competency **training, etc., should be implemented. Thereby enhancing the ship and shore-side Health, Safety and Duty of Care doctrines, significantly and effectively reducing the risk of loss of life at sea.

Thereafter, the regular receipt on board of informed and accurate threat and risk assessments from Company HQ, e.g. as provided by TRANSEC, CPNI, the IMO and Intelligence and Security Agencies, should assist in maintaining an acceptable level of threat awareness. In addition, a simple and effective personnel **training programme should be introduced to ensure all personnel deemed essential to the effective execution of the procedural emergency contingencies, remain suitably qualified to do so.

The **exercises and  **training must be set at appropriate, practical and achievable standards of excellence. Such constructive, professional preparation will, through inevitable leakage, eventually become public knowledge, and thereby contribute towards creating a viable, effective deterrent to hostile factions looking for an easy target. It is clear evidence of Company concern for Health, Safety and Duty of Care and, as such, reassuring to passengers, ships crews, all levels of Company employees, and Company shareholders. In commercial terms, this means a very careful, mature and sensible consideration towards proportionality, i.e. risk versus gain.

          ** CDB Consulting (Security Services) Ltd. and Associates provide a range of bespoke programmes for appropriate, preparational  training and exercises for ship based and shore-side based management teams.  These programmes are designed specifically to cover the period from when a hijack takes place, until either a successful peaceful solution is negotiated, or a military interdiction takes place.   CDB Consulting (Security Services) Ltd. does not deal with the military interdiction phase, which is left to the competent authorities (e.g. Special Forces), to provide relevant briefings.

Over the past five years, CDB Consulting (Security Services) Ltd. has been running programmes of bespoke (i.e. vessel and situation specific) Threat and Risk Awareness and Crisis Management training and exercises for vessels senior  management teams, on board major cruise ships, passenger liners, super yachts and yachts .  We will be continuing this proven programme for our existing clients throughout 2012 and beyond. 

The training and exercises have all had either terrorist or piracy scenarios, with a 100% success rate so far in achieving our client's aims and objectives; role-specific personnel preparational training; the essential implementation of effective practical physical non-lethal counter-measures and procedures, to substantialy mitigate the risk of physical and mental trauma to passengers and crew.   

PIRACY

Yachts and super yachts.  We also have programmes available which are suitable for the owners of yachts and super yachts carrying charter or corporate passengers.  These programmes include up to date threat and risk asssessments in respect of piracy, terrorism and common crime, all of which are directly relevant to the routes to be taken.  The programmes also include advice about the ports of call; local prevelent illnesses; emergency contacting details and emergency evacuation in case of accident, illness etc.; common crime at sea and in port, plus local cultural, religious and traditional issues. 

If you believe you should enhance your Health, Safety and Duty of Care programmes for your passeengers and crews, then we recommend you seriously consider taking advantage of our effective, bespoke Crisis Management and Threat Awareness training programmes.    Please do not hestitate to contact us. See our 'Contact' page for details of how best to reach us. We would be pleased to explain what training and advice we are able to provide to mitigate the threats from violence at sea.