SECURITY
Badge of Courage
Read the "Best Management Practice 3: Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and
Arabian Sea Area", and you could be forgiven for not really knowing how on
earth to `best manage' the rather thorny issue of citadels onboard ship.
The guidelines state that those venturing into piracy hotspots should establish
either an internal `Safe Muster Point' or a secure `Citadel'. Muster points are
easy, citadels rather less so...defined in a wider sense as "a stronghold into
which people could go for shelter during a battle", these can be hugely
effective, or fraught with danger.
Even security experts disagree on their value, some say they are the best way
to frustrate pirates, others think them the best way to get someone killed....
Whatever the view, there are some absolute minimum elements to a successful
Citadel strategy, such as:
* Self-contained air-conditioning no-one wants to be gassed out by
cunning pirates,
* Emergency rations and water supply starving or dehydration aren't
particularly cunning either,
* Emergency shut-down capability for the main and auxiliary engines, and
* External communications and remotely operated CCTV cameras.
The issue of good communication was particularly relevant after last month's
rescue by the U.S. Marines of a hijacked German-owned cargo ship. Two dozen
Marine commandos took control of the "Magellan Star", swarming the decks and
surrounding the armed pirates before they had time to react.
Defeating the pirates was easy...getting in contact with the crew was slightly
more difficult. Upon hijack, the crew instigated an almost faultless retreat
into their citadel. They responded by heading deeper into a warren of safe
rooms inside the ship.
We say "almost faultless", because they had neglected to allow any means of
communication with the good guys. The US Marines in control could not contact
the crew, and were forced to use thermic lances to cut through bulkheads to
reach their hiding place. Even when a Marine announced, (in English and
Russian), the pirates had been subdued, the crew were still reportedly scared
and sceptical.
It wasn't until a bright thinking Sergeant tore off a U.S. flag patch that was
attached to his uniform and shoved it through the hole that the crew realised
their ordeal was over.
So, the lesson is simple hide by all means, but please make sure you can be
contacted. In a void space, no one can hear you scream!
===== FM SHIPTALK =======
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