Majority of vessels disregard BMP guidelines

Nearly 60 per cent of ships traversing the pirate-infested waters off Somalia do not adhere to the best industry management practice (BMP) guidelines, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), according to Exim News Service.


In light of this lack of compliance, the IMO’s Mr Ian Finley said, "Maybe flag states should make it (BMP) mandatory."


He suggested that vessels on time charter should be made to comply with BMP by adding a clause in the charter party. At the moment, a third version, BMP3, is available, but the next version could include guidance on "mother ships", he said.


Given the area to be covered ranging deep into the Indian Ocean, NATO estimates it would take 80 warships on patrol to provide an hour's arrival response time to a pirate attack in the zone of operations.


But there are only 30 such vessels in the area and only 15 operationally available at any one time, said Norway’s Commander Stein Hagalid, branch head of the NATO Shipping Centre.
(Source:http://www.transportweekly.com)