REP-004 - Reporting Incidents Of Armed Attacks, Piracy And Robbery

Supersedes: Marine Notice REP-004, dated 06/12 The following changes have been included:

1. Incident “Abduction of Personnel from a Vessel” added
2. West Africa including the Gulf of Guinea (GoG)
3. LISCR address update PURPOSE:

This Notice advises mariners that any security incident that reflects on the safe operation of a vessel is to be reported immediately to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner. Such incidents are considered to be those that involve:

• • • • Robbery (armed and un-armed)
      • Attack to a vessel (armed and un-armed)
      • Un-authorized and un-lawful boarding of a vessel
      • Acts of Piracy and Hijacking of Vessel
      • Abduction of Personnel from a Vessel APPLICABILITY:

This Notice applies to all vessels under the Liberian flag.

Inquiries concerning the subject of this Notice should be directed to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Republic of Liberia, the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry, 22980 Indian Creek Drive., Suite 200, Dulles, VA 20166, USA.

The most current version of all Marine Notices are available in the Online Library at: http://www.liscr.com

REQUIREMENTS:

• 1. Reports

• 1. International Maritime Organization (IMO) Resolution A.683(17) invites Governments, and neighboring States to increase and co-ordinate their actions and efforts to suppress and prevent acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships in or adjacent to their waters. To assist in quantifying the impact of acts of piracy, IMO Resolution A.683(17) requests Flag States to report promptly and in detail to IMO all incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships flying their flag. In furtherance of the foregoing and with respect to Radio watchkeeping and responses, MSC.1/Circ.1334 provides that when a vessel operator or master encounters conclusive evidence that the safety of the ship is threatened, the master should immediately contact the relevant Regional Control Center, or in certain areas, with the radio stations which could have been recommended by local authorities. All messages should be preceded by the appropriate Urgency signal (PAN PAN) and/or DSC call using the “all ships urgency category. If the Urgency signal has been used and an attack does not, in fact, develop, the ship should cancel the message as soon as it knows that action is no longer necessary. This message of cancellation should likewise be addressed to “all stations”. Masters should report all actual or attempted attacks of piracy and armed robbery or threats thereof to (a) the nearest RCC or regional piracy focal point where applicable; (b) the flag State; and (c) the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre.

• 1. Reporting to Maritime Security Center – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) and UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)

Upon entering the High Risk Area (HRA) as detailed in MSC.1/Circ.1339 14 September 2011, or leaving a port within the region, the recommended Voluntary Reporting Requirements are as follows:

• • 1. Register Vessel Movement with MSC-HOA (online, e-mail or fax)
    2. Initial report to UKMTO Dubai (e-mail or fax)

After transmitting the initial report to UKMTO Dubai and MSCHOA (as applicable,) vessels are to report their noon position, course, speed, estimated and actual arrival times to UKMTO Dubai whilst operating in the region.

West Africa including the Gulf of Guinea (GoG)

Piracy and armed robbery, including reports of hostage-taking, have dramatically increased in the GoG region. Incidents in West Africa greatly differ from those off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean. Somali pirates attack to hijack vessels, cargo, and crews to hold them until a ransom is paid.

In contrast, the piracy incidents in West Africa are generally more violent, often terrorizing and injuring the crew before robbing them, abducting them for ransom, and stealing ship valuables and cargo. Hijacking for oil cargo theft via siphoning is also a prevalent concern in the region.

Vessels transiting this area shall take extra precautions and maintain extra security with heightened situational awareness. Masters and Shipowners are encouraged to be familiar with the services provided by Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea (MDATGoG), when their vessels are operating within the Gulf of Guinea.

MDAT-GoG is a cooperation centre between the Royal Navy (UKMTO) and the French Navy (MICA-Center) in support of the Yaounde Process. This centre has been in operation since the 20th June 2016.

The primary output from the MDAT-GoG is to contribute by maintaining coherent maritime situational awareness in the central and western African Maritime areas, with the ability to inform and support industry. It contributes to the safety and security of the Mariner in the regional maritime domain. The information supplied by vessels will be treated as commercially confidential.

Details can be found on SHOM Chart 8801CSD or UKHO Chart Q6114, 30th June 2016, to allow them to report their vessels while transiting the revised Voluntary Reporting Area (VRA), also described on both security charts with the MDAT-GoG.

For reducing the response time to alert the different local authorities and also the vessels transiting in vicinity, MDAT-GoG encourage the Masters, CSO’s and companies to contact us 24/7/365 as soon as they have to report an incident by mail or by phone. For more information about MDAT-GoG, please visit their website at https://gog-mdat.org/home

To report any incidents of piracy, please contact the following:

Telephone No: +33 298 228 888

E-mail: watchkeepers@mdat-gog.org

1.3 Masters are, therefore, instructed to promptly report, by fax or e-mail within 24-48 hours of occurrence, all incidents of piracy and armed attacks on their merchant vessels to:

Security or Investigations Department

Maritime Operations

LISCR, LLC

22980 Indian Creek Drive., Suite 200

Dulles, VA 220166, USA

Tel: +1 703 790-3434

Fax: +1 703 790-5655

E-mail: security@liscr.com; dutyofficer@liscr.com; and investigations@liscr.com

2.0 Information

2.1 The report should provide as much information as possible, including but not necessarily limited to the following:

· Name of vessel;

. IMO Number & Call Sign

· Gross Tonnage of vessel;

· Date and time (UTC) of incident;

· Geographic position by Latitude and Longitude;

· Anchored, berthed, or if under way heading, speed and ship's freeboard;

· Visibility;

· Method used by pirates/robbers to board vessel;

· Type of weapons used by pirates/robbers;

· Number of pirates/robbers involved and total time on board ship;

· Injury or Loss of Life, if any;

· Items stolen, if any;

· Details of incident including consequence to the crew even when there was no physical injury;

· Action taken by the crew;

· Whether the incident was reported to shore authorities;

· Action taken by authorities; and

· All relevant information that might be useful to prevent future attacks.

2.2 Reports received by the Maritime Operations Department will be transmitted to:

· National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, USA,

· International Maritime Organization, Maritime Safety Department, UK

· International Maritime Bureau, Piracy Reporting Center, UK and Malaysia · The International Shipping Federation, UK

3.0 Radio Messages

In accordance with MSC/Circ.805 dated 6 June 1997, the following guidance for the use of radio signals by ships under attack or threat of attack from pirates or armed robbers is provided below.

3.1 Distress Messages

Recommendation ITU-R M.493-5.1 / ITU-R M.493-11 has been amended so as to include “Piracy/armed robbery attack” as a category of distress message for all classes of DSC equipment. INMARSAT has also added a piracy message to the Inmarsat-C menu for the GMDSS.

3.2 Pirates Detected Prior to Boarding of the Ship

Provided that the ship has not been ordered by the pirates to maintain radio silence, contact should immediately be made with the Port State Marine Police on Channel 7 or Channel 12, or by other appropriate means to Port State Authorities and/or with ships in the vicinity and shore authorities by sending a piracy/armed robbery attack message through INMARSAT or on an available DSC distress and safety frequency. Other methods available (MSC/Circ.805 dated 6 June 1997) to make the pirates aware that they have been detected should also be used.

3.3 Pirates Board Unnoticed

When a ship is ordered by pirates or armed robbers not to make any form of transmission informing shore authorities of the attack and non-compliance with the above recommendation may result in physical violence or death to the crew, it is recommended that any such order should be complied with as the pirates may carry equipment capable of detecting all radio signals, including satellite communications.

4.0 Navigation Information Network

4.1 Owners, Operators and Masters are encouraged to take advantage of the availability of the data base listing attacks against commercial shipping in ports and on the high seas that is contained within the United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency (by way of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency). Owners, Operators and Masters can access up to date regional information and geospatial intelligence through the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s program GEOINT services at https://www.nga.mil and https://home.gs.mil/

4.2 Anti-Shipping Activity Messages (ASAM) data, by any specific geographical area, are available in addition to a full menu of navigation aids such as:

· Chart Corrections;

· Broadcast Warnings;

· DMA List of Lights;

· Mobile Offshore Drilling Units Locations; · Catalog Corrections, etc.

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