Piracy and the armed guard question

One of the more controversial growth sectors in shipping has been the private security business, in particular, the use of armed guards.

In the lawless waters in the Indian Ocean off Somalia armed guards became a choice for many to defend their ship and crew a few years ago, helped by a steady supply of security contractors from the then stabilising Iraq looking for a new business opportunity.

Along with the international naval forces it proved rather effective in largely stamping out the scourge of Somali piracy. This has had a knock-on effect – the security contractors need to find new markets to which their attention turned to West Africa and Southeast Asia. These are a very different kettle of fish.

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Source: seatrade-global.com