Facing piracy, ship security firms set ethics code

* Somali piracy feeds boom in maritime security
* Industry concerned about 'cowboy' operators
* Deployment of armed teams on ships is legal grey area
* U.N. agency to discuss private maritime security firms

Maritime security firms have come together to create a code of conduct and ethics, prompted by alarm over the rising number of companies without seaborne experience aiming to cash in on the surge in Somali piracy.

Increasingly violent attacks on merchant ships and crews by Somali gangs have led more ship owners to consider deploying private security teams on board vessels, attracting companies previously operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. "There are literally hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan
'expatriates' setting up shop, never having been aboard a ship before, much less knowing how to defend it," said John Dalby of security company Marine Risk Management.

"We have fears that a glut of inexperienced and unqualified so-called maritime security operators are bringing the legit
guys into disrepute." Dalby is one of the founders of the International
Association of Maritime Security Professionals (IAMSP), a self-regulated, voluntary body seeking more transparency in the sector. Its code of conduct includes ensuring members are properly trained, abide by laws and regulations where they operate, act ethically and do not accept bribes. "Private security in the marine sector is currently not regulated in the way that it is on land. There is a big worry this could be opening the doors to a lot of cowboys," said Andrew Linington with seafarers' union Nautilus Internationa.

Source: Reuters