Should Private Contractors Be Used to Combat Piracy?

The use of private military and security companies (PMSCs) has become a regular phenomenon in the modern world. It is fairly common knowledge that the War on Terror has included an outrageous number of private contractors but what many people don’t realize is how many different uses these companies have.

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia has been steadily worsening since 2005. There were a record-number of incidents in 2011 and there are no signs of it getting better. The gulf is crucial to many industries because it is the fastest route from Asia to the Americas. Since piracy has become so rampant in the region many companies have begun redirecting ships through the Cape of Good Hope but at great personal cost.

Piracy has proven extremely hard to combat because not only does Somalia not have a central government, the crimes usually take place in international waters. Some companies have requested military assistance from their home state but national military involvement is incredibly expensive and hasn’t proven to be very effective. Pirates have begun to move their operations farther into the Indian Ocean so that incidents are harder to detect and so national governments are unable to react quickly, making formal intervention even more difficult.

Some ways to end the conflict include rebuilding the Somali government and cutting off pirate funding and financing (the industry is so lucrative that many Somali fisherman see it as a way of escaping poverty.) The issue with these solutions is that they will only work in the long-term. Few short-term solutions exist but one that has proven very effective is the use of PMSCS.

The use of private military and security companies (PMSCs) has become a regular phenomenon in the modern world. It is fairly common knowledge that the War on Terror has included an outrageous number of private contractors but what many people don’t realize is how many different uses these companies have.

PMSCs “provide a range of services to assist in the battle against piracy, including risk assessment and consulting, training, logistics support, vessel tracking, provision of armed guards, and crisis response to hijackings.” Although they are very expensive to employ, PMSCs have proven the most effective in combatting piracy in the region and on the grand scheme of things, paying the private companies is less expensive than the cost of ransoms, lost goods, or rerouting ships to the Cape of Good Hope.

There is great debate over whether the use of private contractors should be allowed for anti-piracy measures. From the companies point of view, PMSCs are beneficial because they can offer more effective military services at better prices than national militaries and they can respond more quickly in the case of an emergency. However, you also have to ask should they be allowed to provide armed guards and armed escort vessels? Many people believe that the presence of armed contractors only adds to violence and that national security should be left to governments, not the profit-motivated private sector.

There are very few laws or regulations regarding the use of private contractors because it’s a highly controversial topic. International Maritime Organizations Maritime Security Committee set guidelines regarding the use of PMSCs but even they have grey areas. They don’t endorse the use of PMSCs and suggest that they are only used once a risk assessment is done but they acknowledge the security risk to crew members.

It is almost impossible to decide a jurisdiction in many cases because the vessels that PMSCs serve on often move between various states and jurisdictions and sail under the flag of yet another state. Because they aren’t being used in one specific area, different national and international laws and regulations all have to be considered. Since hiring private contractors is a touchy subject, many companies use them secretly. It is estimated that about 1 in 10 vessels carry private armed security and that number is expected to rise as does piracy.

Should companies be allowed to hire private contractors to protect their vessels against piracy or should national governments be held responsible? Both sides of the argument have valid points but since PMSCs have proven so effective I think they should be employed whenever needed. Not only are they cheaper for the company hiring them, it could also help to reduce the economic impact that piracy makes around the world. I agree that having armed guards may add to the violence but we have a situation where pirates have become more and more violent over the years. Clearly we don’t have the luxury of waiting for the problem to resolve itself so it’s time for companies to take matters into their own hands.

Works Cited

http://maritimesecurity.asia/free-2/piracy-2/east-africa-private-contractors-in-anti-piracy-operations-in-the-gulf-of-aden/

http://counterpiracy.ae/briefing_papers/Liss%20Private%20Military%20and%20Security%20Companies%20in%20the%20Fight%20against%20Maritime%20Piracy.pdf

http://maritimesecurity.asia/free-2/piracy-2/armed-guards-cutting-corners-on-insurance/

http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/154760/Marine+Shipping/Armed+Guards+On+Ships+To+Fight+Pirates

http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=1294