Maritime Crimes On The Rise, Says BIMCO Experts
Industry security experts have concluded that maritime crime will not be stopped any time soon – and that cyber incidents would continue to expand in frequency and severity.
This was the consensus at BIMCO’s first ever Maritime Security Seminar in Copenhagen.
There was further consensus that regional instability in the Horn of Africa confirms the need to retain legacy systems such as the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) and the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) initiative to continue to deter piracy.
The seminar gathered together a large cross section of leading stakeholders involved with the maritime security domain to address a broad range of topics focusing on piracy, terrorism and other illegal maritime activities, including attacks on cyber systems.
A key note address was given by Jim Bergeron, the Political Advisor to the Commander NATO Maritime Forces at a reception hosted by the Secretary General of BIMCO, Angus Frew.
Giles Noakes, Head of Security at BIMCO, said: It was extremely valuable to gather leading security experts together at BIMCO to discuss these global issues. The message was clear: the maritime industry must not take short cuts when implementing security procedures. It’s crucial to keep sharing information to encourage all stakeholders to maintain maritime domain awareness and to train personnel to recognise threats - this will reduce the severity of future incidents"
Representatives from the shipping industry and their CSOs had the opportunity to discuss key security issues with the interested and supporting government agencies from the US, France, the UK, Denmark, Liberia, the Marshall Islands and Norway.
The discussion ranged across insurance, legal, military, flag state, private security and intelligence worlds, focusing on current threats and the most pressing issues.
