[BITList] Fwd: Lloyd's List: Send to Colleague

[Michael Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

From: enquiries at lloydslist.com
Date: 15 January 2009 08:27:08 GMT
To: mj.feltham at madasafish.com
Subject: Lloyd's List: Send to Colleague


The below article was sent to you from Mike Feltham (mj.feltham at madasafish.com 
) with the following message: I thought you might be interested in the  
article below.

Anti-piracy nets cast wide to foul up hijackers’ propellers
David Osler - Thursday 15 January 2009

A BRITISH private security company is introducing a simple new product  
which it claims can prevent pirates boarding vessels by ruling out any  
approach from small craft, writes David Osler.

The idea for the product came to Nick Davis, founder of Anti-Piracy  
Maritime Security Solutions, after he noted the way in which fishing  
nets routinely foul up powerboat propellers. The result is the Counter  
Piracy Net, which takes advantage of this unfortunate property and  
turns it to a good cause.

The nets (pictured) float horizontally on the water and can be fitted  
all around the vessel. Side nets extend six metres beyond the full  
length of the ship from the bow to a line level with the sterngear,  
while a full-width net can be attached to the stern, trailing 50  
metres behind the vessel.

Each net has floats fitted to aid visual awareness of the entanglement  
danger and can be deployed and recovered at two knots by hand.  
According to Mr Davis, the beauty of the system is that it is  
effective from speeds of dead slow up to a maximum of 15 knots.

“Should a pirate be foolish enough to bring his skiff too close and  
run over the net, the propeller fouls almost immediately and then  
spins the speedboat around and immediately swamps the vessel, as it is  
now being pulled backwards from its transom through the water at the  
ship’s speed,” he added.

“Coalition forces would then need to be informed under search and  
rescue terms as the pirates would be swimming,” he went on.

The side nets of 6 m by 50 m cost $2,700, while stern nets cost an  
average of $6,750 for a 15 m wide vessel.

Both can be shipped to local agents for delivery to vessels, and the  
only modifications required are side booms, which can be steel girders  
obtained locally. They are within the capability of an engineering  
officer to fit.

APMSS is best known for the provision of security teams with non- 
lethal equipment for vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden. Its  
personnel were onboard chemtanker Biscaglia when that vessel was  
hijacked by Somali pirates in late November last year.

Mr Davis’s brainwave — which he has patented — joins a range of non- 
lethal equipment designed to counter the pirate menace, ranging from  
high-pressure hoses and long-range acoustic devices to electrification  
of a ship’s railings.

The efficacy of such deterrents is hotly debated inside the maritime  
security business, although most experts believe that non-lethal kit  
is the best option unless vessels are particularly vulnerable, for  
instance on account of low freeboard or high-value cargo.

A security specialist with a leading shipping trade association said  
that it would be necessary to see how the Counter Piracy Net performed  
in practice. But he added: “Potentially, at first sight, it seems to  
make a lot of sense.”

Sign up to the FREE Lloyd's List Daily News Bulletin at http://www.lloydslist.com/bulletin

Articles remain the copyright of Informa UK Limited

Please note that incorrectly addressed emails are returned to a  
Lloyd's List bulletin board and that copies may be taken for  
administrative purposes


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20090115/5fd59fa8/attachment.shtml