Panama Maritime Authority circular
The Panama Maritime Authority has issued revised circular regarding the protection against attacks by pirates in the High Risk Area (HRA). The revision of the circular concerns the Compliance and Enforcement Deputy Chief.
The Panama Maritime Authority discourages the carrying and use of firearms and ammunitions on board Panamanian Flagged vessels, for personal protection and/or protection of the ship by the seafarers/crew; following with the principles discussed during the MSC 86/26. Under no circumstances, this Administration will allow the use of firearms by seafarers for selfprotection on board the Panamanian flagged vessel.
Panama Administration authorized the use of Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSC) to offer their services as Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel onboard Panamanian flagged vessels transiting High Risk Areas in compliance with MSC.1/Circ.1405/Rev.2.
All Panamanian vessels, with or without armed or unarmed security personnel, must prior to the entry into the High Risk Area, have their crew fully briefed on the preparations and a Piracy drill should be conducted. The Security drill should be reviewed and all personnel briefed on their duties, including familiarization with the alarm signifying a piracy attack, and be all clear with the appropriate response to each.
While transiting through High Risk Areas (HRA), all the Panamanian Flagged vessels are requested to verify that the SSAS onboard has been correctly set up and working properly in order to accomplish the Best Management Practices (BMP) and the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) established on Merchant Marine Circular (MMC) 208 and MMC.133; mainly because this Administration recognizes that an essential part of preventing, deterring and suppressing attacks, is prompt reporting to the proper authorities and organizations, both during and post-incident.
In case of any ship calling at Port that requires the presence of the Navy staff on board, the shipping company/operator should send an email to [email protected] indicating the estimated time of arrival (ETA) and the estimated time of departure (ETD) from that Port, also must include a brief statement explaining the reasons why the Navy staff should be on board; in order to get the proper approval from the Panama Maritime Authority.
Source: Panama Maritime Authority