Electric fence to protect ships

IN light of the terrorist scare in the region and the increased number of pirate attacks, a new device known as Secure-Ship, is being used as a tool to fight the menaces. 

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is urging shipowners to equip their vessels with the gadget, which is the placing of electric fence around ships. 

The anti-boarding system is a 9,000 volt electrifying fence and pirates attempting to board a ship will trigger off an alarm, activating floodlights and a very loud siren.  

They would receive a real shock of their lives, painful but not fatal as the fence is non-lethal. The Secure-Ship is another tool in addition to the ShipLoc, a satellite tracking system. 

“These two security devices will deter pirates,” IMB deputy director Captain Jayant Abhyankar, told Star Maritime, describing the system as the most effective answer in preventing piracy. 

Manufactured by a Dutch company based in Rotterdam, the device successfully underwent two years of tests on two ships under various sea conditions. It can also be fitted on both big and small yachts. 

Raphael Kahn, a director of Secure Marine, told Star Maritime that the fence – with 12 volts for detection and 9,000 volts for prevention – should be switched off and taken down when approaching a storm. 

He said Secure-Ship, adapted from security measures for airports, prisons and military installations, would cost about 20,000 Euros for a medium-sized vessel. 

This new device is a welcomed initiative as the total number of worldwide reported attacks at sea has shown an increase from 253 incidents to 271 for the nine-month period. 

In Kuala Lumpur, NATHANIEL XAVIER reports that pirate attacks in the Straits of Malacca and Malaysia saw a decline during the first nine months of the year compared to last year from 29 to 20 cases. 

The number of hijackings however showed a worrying increase, with the two areas accounting for half of the 20 hijacks worldwide. 

The IMB has also called upon South East Asian governments to ratify the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation 1988 (SUA 1988). 

“The incidents of hijackings have increased dramatically since the year 2000 and these are serious and violent attacks done by organised crime groups,” said IMB director Captain P.Mukundan. 

“The ratification of SUA 1988, will give the governments of South East Asia jurisdiction over those crimes when the vessels are recovered,” he said. 

There were eight cases reported in the Straits of Malacca, five in Indonesia and one in Malaysia and Thailand respectively from Jan to Sept, according to IMB’s latest piracy report. 

Indonesia has the dubious distinction of having the most perilous waters in the world – 72 reported incidents – followed by Bangladesh, 26, with Somalia, posing a new danger for ships. 

According to Mukundan, the third quarter of the year saw a new trend in piracy emerging in Indonesian waters, whereby tugs towing barges laden with expensive cargoes were hijacked. 

IMB believed that a ruthless and determined gang is operating in Indonesian waters, especially off the coast of Sumatra, and preying on valuable palm oil cargoes. 

In one incident, pirates armed with a gun and knives boarded a tug laden with palm oil on Sept 6 and threw the 18 crew members overboard. 

South East Asian and the Indian Subcontinent continue to be listed as piracy-prone areas in Asia. 

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