PMSC accreditation programme
Several companies have now passed the initial stages of SAMI’s international private maritime security company (PMSC) accreditation programme.
SAMI, the Security Association for the Maritime Industry, created a standard and mechanism to accredit companies within the global membership, and the three companies which initially volunteered to act as a pilot group have now been confirmed as having been successful.
Those companies are MIRIS International, Securewest International and Spirit Security Services. Each of them underwent a stringent due diligence check during Stage 1 of the SAMI programme.
The checks applied to a range of different areas of the companies’ operations to ensure compliance with a range of minimum standards. The checks are in line with guidelines issued by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and ensure that legal, compliance and quality issues have been adequately addressed.
MIRIS International delivers key maritime security services to ship owners and managers. The company has established a reputation for attention to detail and is fully compliant with UK and overseas-applicable firearms laws and licensing requirements.
MIRIS undertakes comprehensive recruitment, vetting and training of its consultants, including mandatory attendance at the company’s maritime security operative course and maritime firearms training course. All operational services are supported by MIRIS Operations, providing intelligence and situation updates.
MIRIS is committed to developing long term relationships with its clients from the outset, and utilises client and consultant feedback to continually develop the scope of services.
Securewest International, meanwhile, is internationally recognised as a market leader in the provision of maritime security solutions to the commercial, military, cruise and offshore sectors.
With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, the company’s comprehensive range of services include ship security and anti-piracy services, escort vessels for high risk transits, crisis management training, vessel tracking and Ship Security Alert System monitoring, internationally accredited ISPS training and regulatory compliance programmes.
Spirit Security Services specialises in the provision of “a highly competent and bespoke service” to its growing list of international clients. The organisation’s continued drive for excellence ensures that its policies and procedures comply with the latest industry requirements, including the International Code of Conduct (ICoC), IMO Circular 1405 and Guardcon (more of which anon).
Development of the SAMI standard
Speaking about the new PMSC accreditation programme, Peter Cook – the director of SAMI – explained: “We have been developing the SAMI standard over the past year and so we thank our international membership for their vital input. The three companies which have been announced as having successfully passed Stage 1 of the accreditation are to be congratulated. They represent the vanguard of the maritime security industry.”
Cook added: “SAMI is currently in the process of accrediting another tranche of companies and we expect to have performed due diligence checks on over 30% of our 150 global PMSCs within the next few months.”
The SAMI programme has been developed to provide systematic and strict checks on private maritime security companies. The process is broken into three separate stages. Stage 1 is a due diligence check, Stage 2 involves a site visit to the company headquarters to audit the systems in place and Stage 3 is an operational assessment of company personnel deployed onto ships.
The accreditation builds to include “the most robust and rigorous of checks” so as to “provide shipowners with the reassurance they need when contracting with a security provider”.
SAMI welcomes introduction of Guardcon
SAMI has also welcomed the launch of the Baltic and International Maritime Council’s (BIMCO) ‘Guardcon’ – the standard contract for the employment of security officers on board vessels.
The new standardised contract between shipowners and private maritime security companies has been introduced by BIMCO and is seen as working in parallel with SAMI’s own standards and accreditation programme.
According to an official statement from SAMI, Guardcon “provides clarity on a range of key issues” such as the roles and responsibilities of parties, team composition, actual duties and clarification on areas such as insurance, outsourcing and employment.
The SAMI programme provides the mechanism to actually check and verify that the security contractor is able to provide as per the contractual agreement.
Peter Cook commented: “The proliferation of private maritime security companies and the increase of shipowners contracting to use them have prompted a need for standardisation and clarification. The fact that this standard contract now exists in parallel to SAMI’s own international mechanism for checking and enfocring compliance affords shipowners and insurers the reassurance they have been seeking for so long.”
Guardcon itself is the product of much hard work within the shipping industry, and it’s something which is welcomed by maritime security providers. Indeed, the contract is seen as a reflection of the importance and significance of the role that private maritime security is providing in the piracy high risk area.
There has been a rise in the number of occasions in which an armed defensive response has protected vessels from pirate attack, and increasingly the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports state that the return of fire from onboard, armed security team members has resulted in pirates aborting their attacks.
A SAMI spokesperson added: “We see that Guardcon and the SAMI programme sit hand in glove with each other. While the need for security remains, the provision of a joined-up approach to the legal, compliance and quality issues offers the shipping industry a potent twin-track approach to providing legal surety and excellence of service.”
Source: SAMI