Guards to be required on U.S. Flag vessels

I have been saying for some time the least that should be done to protect against pirates is to have guards, or watchmen.

This is what I said on May 5th, 2009

The international shipping community is content to pay ransoms for ships which are captured, because this is cheaper than arming their ships, and probably even cheaper than even doing the basic things against pirates, such as 24 hour watchmen.

Today the U.S. Coast Guard says U.S. Flag vessel going around the Horn of Africa, which is Somalia, must have guards onboard

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard will require U.S.-flagged ships sailing around the Horn of Africa to post guards and ship owners to submit anti-piracy security plans for approval, a Coast Guard official said on Tuesday.

But, the guards don't have to be armed.

Well, I guess this is something, although one would think the shipping companies would have been doing this on their own.

Furthermore, this only applies to U.S. Flag vessels, of which there are few.

I'll bet Maersk vessels won't be hijacked anymore

Eventhough very few of Maersk vessels are U.S. Flag, I doubt any pirates will be going after any ship with the Maersk name on it after last week's foiled hijacking.

In fact, if I were in charge of insurance at Maersk Line, I would be asking for a discount.

There are very few U.S. Flag ships.

It's good to know that when a company does change the flag to U.S. they are afforded the protection of the flag.

Perhaps this will be a reason for more international shipping companies to think about reflagging to U.S., no matter the expense.

This is what I said, back in Dec. 2008.

Despite all the objections, my guess is we will start seeing armed guards onboard ships, hopefully from one of the Navies. I suspect the "flag" countries have already started discussions with countries with Navies to offer protection to their flagged ships - I trust for a fee.

Let's see if the U.S. Navy starts putting guards onboard U.S. Flag vessels.

How is Maersk Alabama a U.S. Flag ship?

The vessel Maersk Alabama, hijacked yesterday, was built in Taiwan. However, it has a U.S. crew. It is owned by a Danish company, but was "reflagged" as a U.S. Ship, by a special program of Marad (Maritime Administration).

Here is the fact sheet from Maersk for the Alabama

Maersk Alabama fact sheet

Owned and operated by Maersk Line, Limited (http://www.maersklinelimited.com)
Capacity: 1,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)
Geared: Yes, two cranes
Length: 155 meters
Width: 25 meters
Deadweight: 17,525 tonnes
Service speed: +18 knots
Build year: 1998
Built in: Taiwan
Flag: US
Home port: Norfolk, VA.

Maersk Alabama is deployed in Maersk Line’s EAF4 (East Africa 4) service. The rotation is Salalah, Djibouti, Mombasa.

Maersk Alabama is carrying 400 twenty-foot containers of food aid for amongst others WFP (World Food Programme).